Café Black in Stamford taken over by new owner from Peterborough

A budding business owner has taken over a popular town centre cafe.

Twenty-three-year-old Haydar Karaoglan is the new owner of Café Black in Stamford’s High Street.

“Café Black is in an amazing location in the heart of Stamford,” he said.

“It felt right.”

Hospitality runs in the Karaoglan family, with previous ventures including The Picture Cafe in Grantham, Café Royale in Corby and Zorba in Stamford.

For Haydar it is his dad, Erdogan, who is his biggest inspiration.

“Growing up I’ve been inspired by him so when I saw Café Black was up for sale I wanted to take it over,” he said.

Haydar, who lives in Peterborough, has been working in hospitality since his teenage years, with his first job being at a cafe.

He believes this experience will stand him in good stead and prides himself on customer service.

Although he wasn’t a regular customer, Haydar had dropped in for a coffee at Café Black on occasions and is familiar with the town from his time as a student at Stamford College.

“When I was a student I would walk down the High Street and never would I have imagined that one day I would be running a cafe here,” he said.

“It is so amazing.”

Haydar officially took the keys about a month ago, and since then has made it his mission to ‘uplift this business back to its highest potential’.

The business has been shut for a few days while a refurbishment takes place ahead of an official reopening tomorrow (Wednesday, May 15) by former mayor of Stamford Andrew Croft.

This includes repurposing the upstairs space to create a seating area and replacing furniture.

“I’m always looking to grow and make it better - which I think is something really important for business owners.”

Haydar has pledged to give all profits made on the opening day to charity.