Exclusive: Durham favourite Flat White reveals plans to expand into M&S’ old Silver Street location

The owners of Durham’s most instagramable brunch spot have revealed this morning their plans to majorly upscale their Durham operations in the coming months.

The move will see the relocation of the current Flat White Kitchen to the site of the soon to close Marks & Spencer’s on Silver Street.

The new venture, which will feature a “newly expanded menu including popular favourites”, will have tables spanning the two storeys of what will soon be the former shop floor of supermarket Marks and Spencer’s.

Map outlining current and proposed Flat White locations in Durham City Centre

“We’ve had such fantastic success in Durham in our 8 years so far, with overwhelming demand from students and locals alike,” wrote the cafe this morning. “We are so excited to share with you these plans for our next step, and can’t wait to see how this venture will take shape”.

Speaking to The Tab today, the charismatic owners of the establishment expressed their excitement at the prospect of building on their already successful business.

“We have gone from strength to strength in recent years, from our small beginnings as a quality barista-led cafe in Elvet,” said Jack Ground, one half of founding duo with childhood friend Jonny Long. “We have some fantastic ideas to expand upon the current Flat White framework, and with such a huge space to work with, we are considering a whole range of really exciting expansion options.”

No longer will patrons of the popular cafe left waiting outside for a table

Whilst it is still early days for these new plans, having only just secured the site, Jack and Jonny gave us an exclusive glimpse into some of their ideas. These haven’t come without their challenges though.

“The M&S building has a fantastic flat roof which we’re hoping to make the most of,” said Jonny. “We really want to use it to develop a rooftop bar, Long Black, but given the recent issues we’ve had finding a supplier able to cope with our huge avocado demands, we may have to use the space more practically and look into developing our own urban avocado farm up there”.

Regardless of how they decide to use their rooftop space, Durham students – for whom a securing a seat at a Flat White table has become a sign of true prestige – will no doubt be excited at the instagram potential this brings.

For many cult-fans of the cafe, the current plans are too good to be true. “I can’t quite believe it!” said one fresher this morning, “I chose Durham specifically over Warwick because of the reputation of Flat White’s ricotta pancakes, and being in Hatfield – the closest Bailey college – I thought I had it all. Never in my wildest dreams did I think they could go one step better!”

Before you get too excited, check the date…