George Fisher UK Abraham's cafe

At the heart of our store - or rather high up on the top floor, with spectacular views - is Abraham's Café.

The George Fisher building was originally a photographic shop, built in 1887 by George Abraham to house his famous photographic business and continued under his illustrious sons George and Ashley. In 1967 George Fisher acquired the premises and this iconic building became an outdoor equipment store. This link with the past has been maintained in our Abraham's Café, where we use locally-sourced produce to create a wide-ranging menu for lunch, tea or just a reviving coffee.

Late last year we decided that the café, plus our customer toilets, needed an upgrade and a refit

In particular, we wanted to create more space for the café and improve the preparation and serving area. Plus a useful benefit would be more display space for the shop underneath. Plans were pulled together, builders briefed, and in January we pushed the button!

Local company CC Build Solutions undertook the building work, and beavered away for the whole of January completing all the major changes behind a temporary wall that was set up to keep the building works separate from the shop area. Downstairs, new fixtures and fittings went in. Week 3 of the build, and we had a slight delay with the new stairs, but they went in looking perfect. By Week 4 the builders were able to take down the temporary wall.

Meanwhile, chef Fred and the kitchen team had been looking at new menu items and practicing cooking and preparing them. Fred’s team, plus Jan and the front-of-house team knew they would face some challenges in the first few days of reopening, but a lot of thought and planning had gone into making sure they would have a bigger and easier area to work in.

Finally, in mid-February, we were ready and Abraham’s Café opened for business again

The extra space is superb, and the new stairs look fantastic; we still get lots of light through the large side windows and we still have the 'Fisher Fun House' under the stairs for children. Speaking of kids, we now have an exciting new children's clothing area. Everything looks new and shiny but we've kept as much memorabilia and that 'George Fisher' feel as possible; we hope you all like it as much as we do.

Thank you to all the builders, electricians, plumbers and teams of tradesmen that helped the build run as smoothly as it did. 

Check out our Cafe Renovations time-lapse videos

Abraham's Cafe Menu and Opening Hours