After the overwhelming success of their first site, Cemal and Ali knew they wanted to create the same sense of community in their home turf of Hackney
Cemal and Ali first approached us 4 years ago in the hope of creating something special in the centre of London’s hustle and bustle. Named ‘Drury’ after its location on the famous London lane, it’s fair to say they’ve more than achieved to what they set out to do, creating a community in the middle of a history-rich but culturally sparse part of the city.
Cemal originally worked in Academia, and Ali in security management before chucking it in with the hopes of creating a space to stop, breathe and recharge in the middle of Covent Garden. Like our Allpress Cafes, Cemal and Ali made the conscientious decision not to offer wifi, instead growing a little library of books available for their customers to enjoy over a cuppa.
It turns out going against the preconceived notion of what the city wanted and standing by your beliefs was the ticket - we’ve seen Drury go from strength to strength over the past few years, with two more subsequent sites opening in both Holborn and their home turf of Hackney.
Hackney was a special site for these guys, having both lived in the area for 30 years, they were keen to give something back to the community they had grown up in. Both Ali and Cemal’s parents emigrated to the UK from Kurdistan, partially because of their hopes to create a better life for themselves and their families. Their shared ties to the middle east, in particular Kurdistan, have inspired them to align their sister site, 215 Hackney, with WarChild UK. They donate 20% of all their profits to raising awareness and helping children affected by the impact of war worldwide.
