With coffee lovers on the lookout for the cosiest spots to enjoy a warm brew this winter, and independent coffee shops thriving thanks to their unique flavours, personalised service, and local charm, it’s no surprise the market has seen a 4% growth in the past financial year.
With over 12,000 in the UK, where can enthusiasts find the best independent cafés, perfect for those seeking a more artisanal and warming experience on chilly days? To find out, the experts at Reviva Coffee have investigated which UK city is the best for independent coffee shops by analysing independents as a proportion of total coffee shops.
Top 10 cities with the most independent coffee shops
| Rank | City | Number of Independent Coffee Shops | Number of Independents as % of All Coffee Shops |
| 1 | Leeds | 584 | 86.3% |
| 2 | Edinburgh | 560 | 85.0% |
| 3 | Bristol | 347 | 86.3% |
| 4 | Brighton and Hove | 329 | 90.1% |
| 5 | Sheffield | 314 | 85.1% |
| 6 | Glasgow City | 303 | 82.6% |
| 7 | Birmingham | 274 | 75.5% |
| 8 | Manchester | 208 | 72.7% |
| 9 | Nottingham | 200 | 83.3% |
| 10 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 197 | 86.0% |
For the full breakdown of the methodology and dataset, please see here.
Reviva Coffee can reveal the best UK city to find independent coffee shops is Leeds. Leeds is a hidden gem for the UK’s thriving coffee culture, as 86.3% (584) of coffee shops here are independent, and just under 14% are chains.
Placing second is Edinburgh. Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur or just needing a cosy pit stop, Edinburgh has you covered with its outstanding coffee scene – with 85% of coffee shops counted for being independent (560).
In third for best UK cities for independent coffee shops is Bristol. Known for its vibrant identity, brimming with creativity and colour, 86.3% of the coffee shops in the area are independent (347).
In fourth place is Brighton and Hove, with a whopping 90% of coffee shops being independent (329), and in fifth is Sheffield, with 85% of coffee shops being independent (314).
Swansea ranks 22nd with 102 Independent coffee shops, equating to 76.1% of all the coffee shops accounted for.
Methodology
- Reviva Coffee were keen to investigate which UK city is the best for independent coffee shops, by uncovering which city boasts the most.
- To do this, they utilised Yelp API to fetch data on coffee shops across various UK locations. Using the Yelp API, they were able to retrieve information about coffee shops in the specified locations.*
- They then created a list of known major coffee chains to differentiate between chain and independent coffee shops. This list was based on widely recognized brands and included names such as Costa Coffee, Starbucks, and Caffè Nero.**
- Data was collected in July 2024 and is accurate as of then. For a further breakdown of the methodology and to see the full dataset, please see here.
*Due to API limitations, they implemented pagination to ensure comprehensive data collection, handling the API’s constraints on the number of results that can be fetched at once.
** They standardised the coffee chains to handle special characters and ensure consistent matching.
*** London was removed because their data wasn’t available for the entirety of the city.