'Irreplaceable': Burglars steal £20,000 of equipment from Shropshire coffee trader
A Shropshire woman who has built her own independent coffee company has spoken of her devastation after burglars stole more than £20,000 of equipment from the business.
Danielle Hadley, originally from Bridgnorth, has spent around ten years building up her firm – Danielle's Coffee.
But last weekend her business was dealt a hammer blow when burglars raided her Burwarton premises and stole vital equipment, and her stocks of coffee, leaving her struggling to supply customers.
During the burglary, which took place between Saturday night and Monday morning, several large and vital pieces of equipment were taken, including espresso-making machines, and an irreplaceable historic coffee roaster.
The roaster, a reconditioned 65-year-old Holland Otto Swadlo, weighs half a tonne and needed six people to put in the premises in the first place.
Boxes of coffee branded with 'Danielle’s Coffee Beans’ were also stolen.
Some of the items also have huge sentimental value for the 33-year-old, having used money from her grandfather to purchase some the equipment.
She said: "Some of it is irreplaceable. I bought my first espresso machine with inheritance, and it is just so bad, I have worked so hard to get here. I started with nothing and built this up over nine years on my own."
Danielle said that difficulties in making the premises secure mean that she will now likely look for a new base.
"It has hit me hard. It is like a nightmare, I'm just devastated," she said.
"I think I am going to have to treat this as not letting them win and try and push on and get it back up to where it was.
Baristas
"I am probably not going to be in Burwarton any more because I do not think I can trust where it is; maybe like a town somewhere. The security is something I am really going to have to think of now."
She added: "I just didn't think it would happen."
The firm has also built a reputation for training baristas, using some of the equipment stolen in the raid.
Danielle said the burglars had probably gained access to the property from the fields at the rear.
She said that they had hardly caused any mess, despite stealing incredibly large and heavy pieces of equipment.
"Nothing was smashed. They did it so neatly apart from the door they kicked in," she said.
"It seemed like they knew what they were after. There were three espresso machines they took, all my coffee, all my stock."
Danielle delivers fresh coffee to a number of local customers and she said she had managed to keep them supplied despite the burglary.
PC Matt Picken from the Bridgnorth Safer Neighbourhood Team, which is investigating the burglary, urged people with information to get in touch.
He said: "Offenders have entered the business in Burwarton and taken unique pieces of equipment that she has built her business around, including a coffee roaster and three espresso machines as well as many boxes of branded ‘Danielle’s Coffee Beans’.
“This has had a devastating impact on her with some of the items being irreplaceable, it threatens the future of her business.
"We are appealing to anybody who has any information relating to this to contact police on 101."
Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org
