In the Customers’ Shoes: How Coffee Republic Built its Brand through Great Customer Experiences

Wednesday, 28 April, 2010

Sahar Hashemi
Co-founder, Coffee Republic

Sahar Hashemi, together with her brother Bobby, founded Coffee Republic and built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands. Giving up her professional job as a lawyer in London, she and her brother staked everything on a dream and made Coffee Republic one of the main players in the ‘coffee revolution’ that transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with ‘triple decaf half-caf lattes’ by focusing solely on the customer experience. Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 to write ‘Anyone Can Do It – Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen Table,’ which reached #1 on the Amazon business chart. Sahar has received numerous recognitions including, 100 Most Influential Women in Britain by the Daily Mail and is a frequent keynote speaker at various high profile events.

Erik K. Linask - Moderator
Group Editorial Director, Technology Marketing Corporation

Erik oversees the daily operation of TMCnet, which delivers news, information, videos, white papers, podcasts, and more to three million visitors each month. He is also a contributor to TMCnet as well as TMC’s IP Communications publications. Prior to joining the TMC team, several years ago, he was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, a global securities services publication, where he also managed the magazine’s survey research. Erik began his professional career at management consulting firm Leadership Research Institute.