How long can you stay in a coffee shop having bought 1 coffee and a croissant

[IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece]

• cafe has 5 tables
• tables are never full, it’s much more of a takeaway cafe
• there’s no plug points so people don’t often come to work
• technically 2 croissants

As long as you want really.

Probably ok if there isn't a queue of people waiting for a table. Maybe buy another coffee after an hour?

Not sure but if you want to stay a long time just buy another coffee?

Should say, the coffee is shite so not keen on buying another

But I’m now on 9% battery so will be moving on anyway!

One hour max. Why was it technically two croissants btw?

Think someone said on here last week about 2 hours was reasonable in say Costa but after that you were pushing it. Local basic non chain maybe an hour max, less if table blocking

That's the thing about England, they want you in and out, in Europe once you've got your coffee that tables yours for as long as you want.

Personally I think In an independent you should at least be buying something every hour.

I buy stuff every hour if I stay

I have morning coffee with a group of four or five friends, most of us have a coffee and a croissant/ danish to start , then a second coffee. We stay about two , two and a half hours until it starts to fill up with lunch time trade.

Compare the income from our table to the income from yours.

Think about staffing costs, £10.00 ph, overheads : rent, utilities, council tax, cleaning, raw materials, loan repayments etc.

@AdmiralCain

That's the thing about England, they want you in and out, in Europe once you've got your coffee that tables yours for as long as you want.

I am actually living in Europe and have noticed this but can’t get away from the U.K. mindset of down a coffee and go

I actually asked the woman behind the counter who said “we don’t care, just spend some money and you can sit there for however long” and looked at me like I was bonkers so problem solved

It is an English mindset!! When I was in Rome, I was in the Piazza della Rotonda, right outside the pantheon having a coffee in the square, it was nothing, 3.50 euro? a coffee we sat there for hours! again, in St Marks square in Venice, they may charge you 16?! Euro for a coffee, don't down it and leave in 3 minutes and say that's a rip off, you're paying for the table and the view, you can sit there for a few hours and no one will move you on! you're paying for the experience and the surroundings, not the coffee.

@AdmiralCain

That's the thing about England, they want you in and out, in Europe once you've got your coffee that tables yours for as long as you want.

Not true, I bought a coffee and a pan au chocolat in a cafe in Paris, wanted to read my book for a bit, the last flake had barely hit the plate before the waiter was swooping it up and bidding me au revoir 👋🏻

@Roystonv

It was me and Wetherspoons - there's a sign saying something like "polite notice, we welcome you to use our heating and electricity with no time limits when we are quiet but we request that you purchase something every 2 hours. I'm paraphrasing but along those lines ... apparently it was so full of wfh people there were no tables for people wanting to eat!

I used to sit in all day and work but I’d buy coffee, pastry, lunch and leave a tip.

I think it’s a bit cheeky to spend a couple of quid then sit there for hours.

I agree but something every hour or so. It’s someone’s business, not a park.

All day if it's not busy (so if there's 5 tables there's at least 2 free). You're not costing them anything by sitting there and are making the place look popular by being there. However once it gets to the lunch hour and gets busy, or people start coming in, looking for a space to sit and then walking out because there's not one, you need to either buy something else or leave.

I often work in a quiet pub on a Monday day time. It's somewhere you have to drive to to get to so its often quiet on a Monday, it picks up around lunch time but it's never full.

I'll get there at ten, have a coffee and some water, order lunch at 12-1 and then another coffee or hot chocolate at about 3 then I leave between 4 & 5. I always ask when I come if it's ok and I always say thanks when Im leaving, they seem totally unbothered and the first time I did it and mentioned that I was grateful for them letting me be there all day they seemed baffled that it would even be questioned.