An independent coffee shop chain which has opened a new branch in a former Costa is hoping to give a nearby Starbucks competition.

The Real Eating Company has moved into the former coffee shop unit in King Street Maidstone opposite the popular American brand.

Managing director and founder of the company Helena Hudson explained that the company had been looking to move in since before Christmas, though the Costa did not close until January 20.

When explaining the business model she said: “We’re like a big small business and so for us every individual shop matters.

“It’s a bit of a hybrid coffee shop/cafe with half of our sales coming from hot drinks but then we also do breakfasts.

“We make our stuff fresh every day on site.

“We feel Starbucks could do with some competition and we tend to do well in the busy towns and cities.

“Commercially it used to be a Costa before and we thought it was just a fantastic site.”

Helena said since opening, the branch has sold more breakfasts than any of its other nine locations.

This is the second shop to open in Kent with the first moving into Whitefriars in Canterbury in 2019.

The shop currently has eight members of staff on its books.

Helena explained how it looks to buy from local producers for its ingredients.

It also creates a unique coffee cup design for each town, highlighting a key feature of its landscape.

The shop had a soft launch on the Bank Holiday Monday (May 27) and officially opened the next day.

Helena started the company 24 years ago more as a restaurant business but it slowly morphed into the Real Eating Company of today.

She said: “It’s a good concept and it's working well.

“We are really independent and we look to work with like-minded people.”

The other branches are in Chichester, Horsham, Portsmouth, Cambridge and London.