Anna Sabine
A combination of a mid-life crisis and the pandemic means that I find myself the owner of a growing chain of co-working cafés, based in Bath and (from November) Bradford on Avon. I first came to Bath in 2005 to work for Lib Dems during the general election.
After a few years living in France, I was delighted to have the chance to come back to Bath in 2008 to work for and ultimately own/run MPC, a public affairs consultancy that works in the property sector and had offices across England but which had its HQ on Gay Street for many years. However, in 2020 the pandemic struck and I turned 40, and thanks to this double whammy I found myself at home a lot, contemplating the next stage of my career and life.
As MPC closed its offices for good with a view to home-based working, I got thinking about the future of work, and in particular all the interesting spaces I’d seen in places like Berlin and Amsterdam, which blended elements of workspace, café and bar. A six-month sabbatical gave me the chance to make a total career pivot, going from the (financially much more sensible!) world of consultancy into the totally new world of hospitality, opening the first Cassia on Bath Riverside in February 2021.
It has been an amazing journey so far and a total breath of fresh air. Cassia blends a café, bar, workspace and events space in one location near Victoria Park. It is also hopefully going to serve as a model for how a values-based hospitality business can run. I have been determined that some of the better practices of my corporate experience (decent pay and conditions, supportive environment for working parents etc) could be carried over into Cassia. I am also interested to see how a local business can show true positive impact on the communities it sits within.
We’re in the process of opening a second Cassia in Bradford on Avon now, which will hopefully mean we can do even more interesting things in terms of our food (largely plant focused) offer and our events programme.
When I’m not at work I have two children (12 and 15), a cocker spaniel and two cats. I like reading and I’ve just taken up knitting because that feels like something you do after 40; I love golf (which I took up so that I could crash all the men’s corporate golf days at my old job) but have no one to play with so if anyone reading this can play….
I am a new member of Bath Women’s Fund and keen to get more involved and to meet some of the many amazing women in the Bath area.