Lancaster’s local Scandinavian coffee shop serving open sandwiches, pastries and cakes along with freshly ground coffee, tea and cold brews.

Holm’s team prides itself on keeping things local, with the vast majority of produce used in our cafe coming from Lancashire suppliers, except for a few Scandinavian treats of course!

We spoke with owners Josh and Chloe and here’s what they have to share.

How would you describe Holm in a line or two?
We’re an inclusive, independent coffee shop with a Nordic influence. We provide great coffee roasted by our pals at Rinaldo’s in Kendal, home-baked cakes and pastries and we now stock a wide selection of Scandinavian food and drink in our shop!

What was the inspiration behind Holm?
The owners, Josh & Chloe, have always wanted to open their own coffee shop. After years of visiting lots of independent places across the country and abroad, they decided to take the leap and open their own. Holm is old English for ‘small island’ and is also the name of the ski slope that Chloe’s grandparents frequented from the early ’50s in Geilo, Norway – their original map hangs on the wall to the left of the counter. With a love of Scandinavian design, culture and food, this became the basis of the idea behind Holm.

How has Holm evolved over the years?
Opening just before a pandemic has been a huge learning curve. It’s taught us so many things and how to adapt the business. We now stock Nordic goods in a corner of the shop that we refer to as the Hjørne (Norwegian for Corner)!

What are you excited about in the months and years ahead?
We’re hoping to look into getting ourselves a premises license so we can run exciting, live events in the evenings and we’re looking at how to improve our delivery service with the help of a local delivery company.

Where did the creative hub side come from?
Chloe’s comes from a creative design background and we are passionate about providing opportunities for the wider community to teach and learn creative and practical skills in an open environment that promotes skillshare.

Best selling cake?
Swedish Ginger Cake has always been our top seller – it’s a traditional Swedish recipe, beautifully spicy and topped with a whipped ginger buttercream and a piece of stem ginger. Second after that is our Toscakaka which is a vanilla sponge topped with almond praline – it’s also suitable for vegans alongside a wide selection of other treats! Something we work incredibly hard on at Holm is to make sure that no matter your dietary requirements that there’s something delicious for you to enjoy. Lattes are our most popular coffee followed by Flat Whites and Blood Orange tops the loose leaf tea charts!