Rounton Coffee Roasters is a North Yorkshire speciality coffee brand that does things properly, from bean to brew. Founded by former chemical engineer David Beattie, Rounton sources, roasts and delivers high-quality coffee to customers across the UK, from individual subscribers to wholesale and corporate buyers.
Having invested in a six-figure commercial roaster and expanded its production capacity, the business was at a pivotal stage in its growth.
Rounton needed its reputation to catch up with its ambitions of moving beyond a loyal local following to become a recognised name in the national speciality coffee market.
Rounton Coffee operates in a competitive and crowded category, where brand story and credibility matter almost as much as the product itself.
While the business has a strong product, a compelling founder story and genuine sustainability credentials, there was a significant opportunity to:
Shift perception from a local roaster to a scaling national supplier
For Rounton, the opportunity wasn’t just about getting more coverage, it was about being seen differently.
Harvey & Hugo developed a PR strategy centred on earned media and storytelling, which focused on:
Founder-led storytelling: Bringing David Beattie’s journey from chemical engineer to coffee entrepreneur to life for regional and national audiences.
Investment and growth narrative: Framing Rounton’s six-figure machinery investment as a signal of serious commercial intent, to secure business and trade press coverage.
Trade and specialist media: Targeting the titles that matter to Rounton’s wholesale and B2B audiences in food and hospitality press.
Regional credibility: Securing coverage in key North East and Yorkshire titles to reinforce roots while building national reach.
Rather than scattering activity across channels, each piece of coverage was designed to reinforce a consistent narrative: Rounton Coffee is no longer just a local brand. It is a growing national player.
To build third-party credibility and reach new audiences, Harvey & Hugo delivered a targeted press strategy that generated 18 quality media hits in a single quarter – including 3 exclusive features – across a mix of regional, trade, online and print titles.
Coverage secured included:
The breadth of coverage — from regional news to national trade titles — gave Rounton credibility across multiple audience groups simultaneously: consumers, B2B buyers, investors and wholesale partners.
One of the clearest indicators of PR’s impact is how the brand is now described and understood externally — not just by journalists, but by the algorithms, platforms and third-party sources that shape perception at a wider scale.
After reviewing the media coverage generated during the quarter, AI language models now describe Rounton Coffee in different terms.
Before:
After:
This reflects a clear shift from ‘local brand’ to ‘growing national player’ — exactly the repositioning the campaign was designed to achieve.
In a single quarter, the campaign delivered meaningful, measurable impact in terms of visibility, credibility and brand positioning.
Media coverage
Improved brand perception
PR activity shifted how Rounton is understood in the market, from a “local, sustainability-led roaster” to a “scaling national supplier with production capacity and subscription growth”.
Commercial impact
Beyond the coverage itself, PR activity has created a stronger platform for commercial conversations.
Third-party validation from respected media titles supports wholesale and corporate buyer outreach and a growing body of press assets supports sales, pitches and partnership conversations.
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