It’s a 30 minute drive from Liverpool city centre
It’s a 30 minute drive from Liverpool city centre
A “popular” destination in Merseyside where “you’ll always find something” is just off the M62. It’s mid-week and to escape the hustle and bustle in the run-up to Christmas, we took a trip to the home of Harefield Coffee Barn on Warrington Road, Rainhill.
Serving fresh and delicious breakfasts, lunches and homemade treats every day, the business has long attracted loyal customers since opening eight years ago. But the coffee barn isn’t the only thriving business on site, as you will also find a garden centre, gift shop, florist, woodwork shop, a local butchers – and alpacas in the field behind.
As we arrived before midday, the car park was full with customers heading into the different businesses to grab a bite to eat or do some shopping. From Liverpool city centre, the Harefield site is around a 30 minute drive – and it is definitely worth a visit.
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Over 30 years ago, husband-and-wife Derek and Sandra Williams bought the land which is now home to all these popular businesses. Derek, 65, was born in the cottage next doors to the site and his family have long had ties to the area.
He told the ECHO: “We bought the site in 1990 and opened the site about 1996 when we made it into our little water garden centre. We specialised in water gardening, myself and my wife initially.
“Then over the years, we put the different buildings up, expanded the garden centre. But when I bought this, it was was just a green field.” Before retiring in 2016, Derek and Sandra were putting plans in place for new buildings and potential businesses on the site.
Today, Derek said they see people come as far as Lancashire, Wales and Isle of Man and that they “couldn’t have wished for a better location.” He said people who came in the early days of the garden centre have seen the Harefield site transform and also continue to visit.
Derek said: “I like the people. All my tenants are just fantastic people.
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“Along the way we’ve met some fantastic people, fantastic tradesmen that have helped us to make the site what it is today.
“The whole essence of it was to create jobs for local people. And now we’re employing just over 30 people on site here.
“We’re honoured really, to have such good customers and a good customer base. It was worth all the heartache and the effort doing it and getting the planning permission from the council. We’re very proud that we’ve done it.”
Heading inside Harefield Coffee Barn, every table is full and the rustic interior has festive decorations and a beautiful, giant Christmas tree on display. Husband-and-wife Ken and Pam Simpson, from Huyton, first opened the doors in March 2016, just with coffee and cake and from there the business has built up a strong customer base.
Ken, now 65, was a customer of Derek and Sandra’s at the water garden centre and when the idea and opportunity came about to open and run a coffee barn, the couple worked to transform the former alpaca information centre into a new venue. Pam 62, told the ECHO: “It’s a family business – our sons have worked in here for a few days, our daughter-in-laws have worked in here and helped out.
“The morning that we opened there was 12 people waiting to come in, which was lovely. Then in the early days, it was just word of mouth and apart from social media today, we’ve never advertised.
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“The idea for me was I wanted everything natural – I love wood and I love brick, so that was the vision. It’s quite rustic and it’s a local business built by local businesses.
“In the summer, we also have the terrace outside and the alpacas, people like to look at them, so it’s a nice place to draw people in.” Starting with an “empty shell,” Ken said they did a lot of research ahead of opening to offer something new and different to the community.
He said: “We went to loads of different garden centres with the landlords to get an idea and we thought, well we wouldn’t do that, we wouldn’t do this, but we like that and we like this. We just wanted it to be a place where people could just come chill and relax and talk.
“We built it, obviously it got busier and then the other businesses then over the years started coming. We use pagers because we’ve been luckily busy all the time, so that if people turn up, we don’t want them to go.
“We give them a pager and we say have a wander around or sit and wait and the car and then we page them then when they’re ready to come in. People like that idea as well, we got that idea from being on holiday.”
Welcoming customers from across Merseyside and beyond, a number of famous faces have also visited Harefield Coffee Barn. Ken said: “We’ve had cast members from Hollyoaks, professional footballers, people from Sky Sports, snooker players, loads of professional people.
And people do just leave them alone and they like it because they can just sit and chill.” Now eight years on from opening, Pam said she feels the family and their staff have “achieved something that they thought they could never do.”
She said: “It makes me very proud and hopefully makes our family very proud as well. We’re just pleased that we were given the chance to do it and to give something back to the community as well.
“We’ve been lucky. We had the opportunity and we’ve worked hard and I think it’s all gets paid off.”
Head chef and manager Josh Dean, from Crosby, has worked at Harefield Coffee Barn for eight years and has built up the menu offering overtime, bringing in and working with local suppliers and businesses to create delicious breakfasts, lunches and treats. Josh, 36, told the ECHO: “We try to get the best ingredients, but keep it simple, keep the menu small so we can keep it all fresh. With the breakfasts, people love the Eggs Benedict and every morning we make the hollandaise sauce fresh.
“We also have the Woodland Eggs, which is one that I designed myself and at lunchtime, we have the flatbreads like peri peri or Cajun. And the cheesecakes are very popular.”
Josh said he sees customers come from across Merseyside and Manchester, as well as visitors from Yorkshire. Harefield Coffee Barn was recently named a finalist for the 2024 ‘hidden gem‘ at the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards – something Josh said the business couldn’t have achieved without the hard work of their staff.
He said: “We’ve been shortlisted as the top 10, alongside the likes of Emily’s Formby, Desserts by Dre, other big names. We’re really proud to be alongside other really good companies and I know some of the chefs too so we’re honoured to be alongside them.
“The owners are lovely to work for and here you feel part of the family. You come in, you’ve got the alpacas – every morning it’s just open, it’s light. Our staff are brilliant and it’s just a joyful place to work.”
Robbie Campbell, 53, is owner of Harefield Gift and Plant Centre, which is the gift barn, florist and garden centre all on site. Originally, Robbie said the gift barn was in the cabin where the florist is based, but expanded and move to a new shop on the opposite side of Harefield Coffee Barn.
Today, Harefield Gift Barn is full of treasures, whether you’re looking for a treat for yourself or a small gift for a loved one. Inside, Robbie, originally from Fazakerley, told the ECHO: “When we first set it up, we wanted it to feel as if you were going to go into a little shop in the Lakes.
“When we expanded, the idea was is you were going to buy a present for someone and didn’t know what you wanted to buy, you’d be able to come here, wander around and find something. Then with the florist, you could get the whole package – the present, the flowers, the plant – so you’ll always find something here.”
Robbie described Harefield as a “friendly site” where they get “nice customers.” He said that while they get visitors from across Merseyside and beyond, local footfall is also huge for the businesses there.
“People come to meet, have a wander around and then they have a little shop and then they’re off to pick the kids up or go about their business. You get people coming in here and you see them walking in with the laptops and stuff to have meetings.
“So it is a focal point, because of our location being just off the stoops, we are an attraction. Then on the other hand, we’re on the edge of Rainhill, we still see ourselves as part of Rainhill and we’ve got a great community there as well. I love the location, love the people that come here.”
Senior florist Faye Daly, from Gateacre, has a decade of experience in floristry and briefly worked in an office job before returning to the industry this year. After knowing and working with Robbie years prior, Faye, 33, came to work at Harefield Florist when it opened back in February.
The business has already had a lot of success and growth, offering everything from bouquets and hand tied arrangements to occasion flowers and more. Faye told the ECHO: “I’m very much a rustic type of person and here we’re based in like a cabin, so I like the whole feel of it.
“We’re going to try and grow our own foliage and go down that route, so we’re trying to be as sustainable as possible and I think that it kind of fits in with the environment that we’re in here as well.
“We have a lot of local orders and we have reoccurring customers that come in and we do national and international orders as well.” In under a year at Harefield, Faye said she’s “never felt so welcome straight away” when working in a new place.
She said: “All the businesses have been here for six plus years and obviously I’m the newbie so to speak, but it feels like I’ve just been here for the same amount of time and everyone’s so nice.
“Everybody just gets on and everybody just helps each other out.” In terms of the location, Faye said new customers are often surprised at how much the Harefield site has to offer.
Working away on festive orders, Faye said the team are also hoping to offer seasonal workshops throughout next year after their recent Christmas-themed session was a success. She said: “We do get a lot of people who are coming off the motorway, especially to go to the Coffee Barn.
“But when they do come here, they don’t realise how much there is and people are always surprised when they get here at how big it actually is here. If there is a little bit of a wait the Coffee Barn, because it is so popular, people do tend to come and have a look at the garden centre and the gift shops. It is a nice little afternoon out.”
Matt Brown, 49, is owner of Harefield Woodcraft and started his business from his garage 11 years ago. Matt, from Widnes, has been based on the Harefield site for the last eight years and today offers handmade items such as household furniture, garden furniture, clocks, signs, bespoke gifts and more.
Matt told the ECHO: “It’s brilliant here because it’s always busy. The car park’s busy all the time really, even like Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“We all get on really well. It’s like a little family really and we’ve all of known each other now for a long time.
“We sort of help each other out and it’s really lovely.” Seeing customers visit “from all over,” Matt said the site has become a bit of a “destination” and that what he loves most about Harefield is “meeting different people.”
He said: “I think if you were stuck in a workshop on an industrial estate somewhere, you wouldn’t see the same sort of people all the time. It’s just a good variety because you get all sorts of people here.
“Obviously, being in the garden centre, it’s lovely because I get to look out the workshop window all the time, and it’s green everywhere. It’s a beautiful place to work.”
Neil Cain, 40, owns Harefield Butchers alongside partners Michael Parker and Lee Parker. Neil has been based on site since 2020 and the business offers everything from grass fed beef, lamb and chicken to sausage rolls, Christmas meat hampers and more.
Neil, from Skelmersdale, told the ECHO: “Michael Barker owned the butchers here and then I bought into it. The butchers has been on site for around about seven years.
“It’s all local – from local farms from Lancashire because I’m from Lancashire and we go as far as Yorkshire for our meat as well. We do try and get the best price for the customer.
“We’re known for our sausage rolls, we sell a lot of them and we really sell a lot of chicken Wellingtons. We have regular customers but also new customers because we’re just after the M62.”
Like the other businesses on site, Neil said Harefield offers a friendly environment, where everyone is “looked after.” He said: “Everyone gets on, everyone helps each other when they need helping.
“Especially Robbie who manages his business, as well as runs the garden centre – and Sandra and Derek who own the site, they look after us really well. People come up for a little day out and it’s a friendly environment – it’s a great place to go and work.”
