One of my most recent visits took me to a quaint Victorian shopping arcade hidden in the heart of Manchester, within the Barton Arcade lies one of the smartest and well designed coffee shops I’ve had the pleasure of visiting; Pot Kettle Black (PKB as its otherwise known) was established in October 2014 as the brain child of professional St. Helens rugby players Mark Flanagan and Jon Wilkin.

After visiting one of the world coffee hot spots Sydney, Mark approached team mate Jon with the prospect of opening an independent coffee shop and looking towards the future and life after rugby, although both admit that there decision isn’t entirely commercial as they have a real passion for coffee and innovation in bringing coffee to Manchester.

Stepping inside PKB is spacious joy of large windows, quirky patterned tiling, antique woodwork, ironwork and a large blackboard wall complete with hand drawn process…