With city centres becoming dominated by homogenous coffee-shop chains with pre-established customer routines, Ziferblat, finalists for the Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year acts as the solution to this problem, following an ethos that an environment is created by those who inhabit it.

Introducing a unique pay per minute concept, guests can enjoy a new kind of social work space where they are charged 6 pence per person per minute and everything else is free, including unlimited coffees, teas, soft drinks, cakes, biscuits, fruits, cereals, breads and snacks. In addition, Ziferblat has private themed meeting rooms that include unlimited Ziferkitchen, projection, flip charts and Wi-Fi, with the aim of offering a more creative environment for clients to hold their meetings and events.

Ziferblat further challenges the coffee shop market through its ‘shared city centre sitting room' concept, by offering a venue with limited barriers and so little friction in how guests can use the space; Guests can reclaim the use of the space and leave Ziferblat having taken a self-directed approach.

Colin Shenton, CEO Ziferblat UK & Ireland said: "The most exciting thing about leading Ziferblat is the incredible customer feedback. Across all platforms, our reviews have been almost universally positive and supportive. The guests are voting with their feet and those feet seem to be stampeding to Ziferblat's door."

Originally started by Ivan Meetin back in Moscow in 2011, Ziferblat have now spread to 16 branches across Europe, including branches in Liverpool, Manchester and London.