Eleanor grew up in Edinburgh, in a family where the kitchen was always warm and the oven was never off. Her parents ran a small bakery on Leith Walk, and she spent her school holidays serving scones to regulars who came as much for the chat as the baking.

After studying hospitality in Edinburgh, she moved to Melbourne — and fell headlong into the world of specialty coffee. She trained at three of the city's most respected roasteries, learning to taste the difference between a poorly-extracted shot and a transcendent one.

She returned to London in 2016 convinced that Islington — with its market streets and independent spirit — was exactly where a place like Brew & Co belonged. She was right.

James grew up in Cornwall, spending weekends at his grandmother's side in a kitchen that smelled permanently of clotted cream and warm pastry. She taught him that the best food is made slowly, with care, and with the right people around the table.

He went on to train in French patisserie technique at a London culinary school, and spent several years working the pastry section at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Covent Garden. It taught him precision — but he missed the warmth.

From 2015 he began selling his own bakes at Borough Market, where he met Eleanor over a shared flask of filter coffee. The rest, as they say, is Brew & Co.