18A, formerly known as Brew, set to permanently close in Lancaster city centre

18A Lancaster, the coffee shop formerly known as Brew, has announced it is closing at the end of April.

The coffee shop on Brock Street, changed its name from Brew last year, which it had traded under since 2018.

18A is a student-favourite coffee shop in Lancaster city centre, selling a variety of breakfasts, brunches, and drinks. The shop celebrated its seventh birthday on 4th December 2025, less than three months after it changed its name.

The closure was announced by owner, Luzia Woods on Instagram this week. The latest announcement follows a video posted in September 2025 that revealed the business had to change its trading name due to a scam.

The video disclosed they were scammed a few years back and  had lost all their money a few weeks before VAT was due, meaning they had to take a loan out to cover it. The owners chose not to liquidate the company because Brew was in profit, but closed the bakery.

The company was then liquidated in 2024 and a crowdfund was set up to upgrade the kitchen. However, due to an oversight from the owners and the liquidators, it was found the company’s business name was changed at this point to something that was too similar to its old name.

As a result, they were left with the options to change its trading name (from Brew), resign as directors, or go to court trying to save the name. The company traded as 18A Lancaster from September 2025 to April 2026, when it was announced that the business would close.

In a statement posted to Instagram this week, Luiza highlighted that “hospitality is under real pressure, and [its] left us without the reserves to continue safely.” She explained: “Rather than risk putting ourselves or our team in a worse position, we’ve made the difficult decision to step away now.”

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The owners of 18A opened Spread Sandwich Shop on Brock Street in January, which has permanently closed with immediate effect and deleted all social media accounts in the last week.

Luiza’s full statement read:“After a lot of thought, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the business.

“This hasn’t been an easy choice. Running a business comes with a lot of pressure behind the scenes, and the time has come for us to step away and put the energy into a different chapter of life.

“The reality is that year on year increases [have] taken their toll. Hospitality is under real pressure, and [its] left us without the reserves to continue safely. Rather than risk putting ourselves or our team in a worse position, we’ve made the difficult decision to step away now.

“What we’ve built here means more to us than i can put into words. And is the hardest [decision] i’ve ever had to make.

“We will continue to trade until the end of April, to say our goodbyes to the customers, the shop & the happy memories.

“To me, the team and all our customers, It will alway[s] be [remembered] as Brew. Luiza x”

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