Fed up with drinking coffee in other people’s offices.

[canyouseemyhousefromhere]

That’s what it feels like lately. I popped in for a coffee in a local coffee shop and was surrounded by four separate people working with laptops, headphones and piles of paperwork talking loudly to ‘clients’ . No food or drink in sight. I have just heard one of them invite 2 people to a meeting in this cafe, he’s busy arranging chairs (carrying them across the cafe) as I type.
I have no particular problem to people working in coffee shops but some are really taking the p now.
They often take the best tables and are now frequently causing a nuisance. I have seen two groups of shoppers change their minds whilst in the queue not sure if it’s because of the office people or just coincidence.
Is there also a confidentiality issue here perhaps? A list with personal information was clearly in view on the table.
Does anyone else feel fed up with this or am I just being a misery? 🤷‍♀️

People weren’t yakking on phones and typing on laptops then though.

I have sat next to a table where an in person interview for an IT job was being conducted at lunchtime in John Lewis’s cafe. It was very busy and noisy at the time. Why would anyone want a job if that was how they were treated at the interview?

The issue of confidentiality is well made. I'd be tempted to try to find out who the loud people work for, and then let the company know. Or a comment similar to the one claiming someone is talking about their neighbour.

My company includes emphasis on confidentiality in public places as part of training which has to be renewed annually.

There is a local pub/eatery near my home that has just advertised their latest venture. Rather than remain empty during the daytime: they’ve been advertising their space for workers.
For just £10 you can sit in the pub from 9am to 6pm and have one table, two seats. You can use their WIFI, and if needs be have meetings. You get a cold lunch (sandwich and crisps) and free squash/water or for an extra £5 you can have a hot meal, from a selected menu.
Unlimited tea/coffee is another £5.
The pub, which previously was in trouble, is now looking a lot healthier apparently, and many patrons happily meet their kids/spouses there after school (again generating more money)
It started in response to a local coffee shop going “laptop free”, the pub realised they could do a deal and make it worth their while. All the workers are asked to leave at 6pm, or they will be charged £5 per hour after, and so far it seems to be working well.

I would have thought Wetherspoons would be ideal for workers, since there’s no music and they tend to be quiet during the day.

No, but Pope, Dryden and Marlow were all reputedly pretty damn loud, weren't they?

Personally, and as a business owner, I enjoy seeing young people collaborating, working, socialising. Goddess knows the economy is stagnant enough, and British public spaces haven't fully recovered from Covid.

Go to Greece (where I'm from) or Poland (where I travel regularly for business) and coffee houses are loud with chatter, young children, office workers. It's a joy to see and hear. It's the mark of a thriving and cohesive society.

Far better the hustle and bustle of an active public space than the silent, depressed, dreary spaces that characterise so much of the UK outside London.

If a person prefers quiet spaces, there are churches and libraries, which are often also lovely.

I don't get the sense that anyone wants quiet coffee shops - just that some (as described) are very loud. TBH my main beef with those with laptops is the way they spread themselves across spaces and tables designed for more than one person

I, also, think it's a size thing. As I've described a cafe I use has a no laptops rule - given the small space and layout I quite understand why. It's near the university and popular with students

In a much bigger place it wouldn't be so much of an issue. My main cafe/bar location has more space especially outside. It's by a marina and gets the odd laptop user. They blend in more and the place is certainly not quiet. Groups meet there and there is plenty of chatter

Would you want to give Mr Martin more business? Brexiteer in chief.

Wireless internet connections are also notoriously unsecured. I always turn mine off when I’m out.

Well yes there is that!

No one wants the quiet of a church or library 🙄 We like the atmosphere and vibe of a coffee shop with people, but not ones shouting on their phone. Also, who wants to hear someone talking about work, you're going for a coffee to relax

Nothing to do with the chatter and vibrancy, it’s the one person taking up a full table of 4, eating their own food and telling other patrons to be quiet because they are working/on a call that people object to

It's certainly true that increasing numbers of people are working in cafes rather than offices. This relates to the dislocation and disruption in the UK commercial real estate market as a result of lockdowns and then interest rate hikes. Small businesses have been finding it increasingly difficult to afford office space.

The thing is, small businesses are the backbone of the British economy: SMEs account for 60% of total employment. And they've had a horrendous time of it over the past 5 years. It's absolutely in all our interests that the economy recovers and that means SME recovery. If that means more people working in cafes until the commercial property market normalises, then I'm all for it.

If the cafe OP frequents is an indie cafe, then it too is an SME. Independent coffee shops have experienced a double shock over the past 5 years, firstly from lockdown, and most recently from the vertiginous rise in coffee prices due to the current volatility in the commodities market.

it would be a shame if OP withdraws her custom from a shop which needs her business, simply because other customers are discussing subjects which she has not personally pre-approved (ie work, rather than other conversational topics which are more acceptable to her).

My other suggestion would be noise cancelling headphones.

They're commercial businesses. They'll tell people with laptops to move is it's problematic for them. If it's not, you are free to use the space as you see fit, or not.

My other suggestion would be noise cancelling headphones.

I can't imagine going into a coffee shop for a drink and cake or whatever and whipping out my headphones. That seems overkill.

This. I think office workers get a bad rap re their presence in coffee shops so thank you for pointing out other groups who could also be alienating. It does indeed sound a difficult job trying to accommodate all groups!

Look yourself at the OP’s posts. The cafes she is talking about are not filled with the 21st century’s great thinkers, revolutionaries, and authors.

I wish! 🤣

There is a big difference.

I work in an office which the company rents space so is shared with employees from other companies. Some of the most annoying people are the ones who start a Teams meeting and then talk at a volume that is as if they are trying to talk to someone sat 100 meters away. People at neighbouring desks having a F2F meeting are far quieter and less disturbing. Even when it comes to people talking F2F, there can be a point when they cross the boundary* into gobshite territory and should have a bit of consideration for others around them. It is unfortunate in the individualistic self-obsessed Americanised UK that a lot of people treat public shared spaces as an extension of their own house, and exercise main character syndrome everywhere they go.

*The boundary is when you are loud enough to be an annoyance to someone else.

That is the way we have gone in the UK. Let the inconsiderate arseholes have free reign without consequence and expect everyone else to bend over backwards to mitigate the externalised costs to themselves. What a great society we have moulded for ourselves.🙄

I can barely cope with the noise, distractions and uncomfortable set up of an office, there is no way I could work in a cafe. If people like noisy environments they should go to the office and leave coffee shops for coffee! There are definitely privacy and intellectual property concerns in a cafe, open WiFi networks are not safe so you need a vpn, and you never know who could be listening to your calls. If I take work calls in public areas I am always very careful about what I say, I couldn't do that all day long.

I WFH and hate going to coffer shops to work - it is noisy and expensive, and not very comfortable . Why an earth would anyone opt for this when you could either be at home or in your actual office

I’ve lost count of the number of job interviews I’ve been party to in my local coffee shop. It’s sometimes quite entertaining but usually tedious as fuck. But it’s not as bad as the people who insist on watching videos with their phone on loudspeaker.

That's bizarre.

They are a business that needs people to eat and drink not just use the tables, chair and free WiFi.