Cadena Cafes Limited

Cadena Cafes Limited was a British coffeehouse and café chain whose roots went back to 1895, when the business was established as Lloyd's Oriental Café. It developed from a regional café operator into a substantial network of coffeehouses, bakeries and related hospitality venues serving towns and cities across South West England and parts of southern England. The business sold coffee, tea, pastries, cakes, light meals and more substantial food, while many of its premises also offered specialist dining rooms, smoking rooms, quick-lunch counters, entertainment spaces and, in some cases, dance or ballroom facilities. The company adopted the name Lloyd's Cadena Cafés Limited in the early twentieth century and became Cadena Cafés Limited in 1907, following an earlier change of name documented in company records. The word “Cadena” was already being used for the company’s coffee blend in 1902, when branches operated in Bristol, Oxford, Hastings, Southsea, Tunbridge Wells and Richmond. During the 1910s and 1920s, Cadena expanded through new sites and acquisitions. In 1919 it bought the Cheltenham businesses Cosy Corner and the Oriental Café from Ernest Edward Marfell, who subsequently became a Cadena director. The company also enlarged existing premises and developed more elaborate formats, including dining salons, roof gardens, grill rooms and large function spaces. Cadena’s growth continued during the interwar period. It opened or developed branches in places including Reading, Salisbury, Winchester and Worcester, established a bakery in Bristol, and acquired Dellers Cafés, a Paignton-based business, in 1933. The chain’s cafés were not simply beverage counters: they functioned as social and civic venues. Some hosted musical afternoon teas, dancing, ballet lessons, staff events and weekend balls. The Berkeley Café in Bristol was sufficiently large to host Cadena’s annual general meeting from 1927 and was being expanded with an additional 250-seat room around that time. The two world wars created operational and financial pressures. During the First World War, staff enlistments contributed to labour shortages, and the company was prosecuted in 1914 after a fourteen-year-old bakery employee worked beyond legally permitted hours. During the Second World War, cafés in Southampton, Exeter and Bristol were damaged or destroyed by bombing. Cadena sought permission to operate temporary premises and later dealt with compulsory acquisition and redevelopment schemes affecting some of its properties. The company also opposed the postwar development of Bristol’s Broadmead shopping centre because of its anticipated effect on established city-centre trading areas. Cadena introduced employee-support measures during difficult economic periods, including a loyalty and assistance fund, a subsidised savings scheme and, later, pension support. It remained a publicly traded company on the Bristol Stock Exchange and its annual meetings were regularly reported in the Western Daily Press from 1927 to at least 1950. Tesco announced a bid for Cadena in January 1965 and had secured offers for more than 90 percent of both preference and ordinary shares by March. Contemporary plans envisaged placing Cadena cafés in Tesco supermarkets and marketing Cadena pastries and cakes through the wider retail business. The chain is reported to have had approximately forty-nine cafés and bakeries at the time of the takeover, although the precise total depends on how branches and production sites are counted. The intended expansion of the bakery operation did not develop as planned, and Cadena’s cafés closed during the 1970s. The former company remained within Tesco’s corporate structure and was eventually renamed Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited in 2011. Former sites, buildings and memories of the cafés survive in local heritage accounts, including Cadena House in Tunbridge Wells and the Berkeley building in Bristol, now used as a Wetherspoons pub.

Cadena Cafes developed from Lloyd's Oriental Café, established in 1895. Company records identify an incorporation of Lloyds Oriental Café in 1900, followed by a change of name to Lloyds Cadena Cafés Limited in 1905 and to Cadena Cafés Limited in 1908. The Cadena name was associated with the company’s coffee blend by 1902, when branches were recorded in Bristol, Oxford, Hastings, Southsea, Tunbridge Wells and Richmond. Expansion combined new branches, acquisitions and the enlargement of existing premises. In 1919, Cadena purchased Cheltenham’s Cosy Corner and Oriental Café from Ernest Edward Marfell, who became a company director. The business subsequently added or developed locations in Reading, Salisbury, Winchester and Worcester, as well as a Bristol bakery. It also created multiple service environments within its premises. Depending on the location, customers could find ladies’ tea rooms, gentlemen’s smoking rooms, dining salons, roof gardens, grill rooms, quick-lunch counters and large function rooms. Some branches hosted music, dancing, ballet lessons and other community events, giving Cadena a role that extended beyond ordinary takeaway coffee service. The company’s interwar expansion can be followed through annual general meeting reports published in the Western Daily Press from 1927 onward. Cadena held its annual meeting at Bristol’s Berkeley Café for many years, and the venue was expanded with a substantial additional room. The company acquired Dellers Cafés in 1933, adding a business with sites associated with Exeter and other locations. Development slowed during parts of the 1930s, although a Worcester café was begun in 1936 and opened in 1937. Cadena also managed bakeries and used property mortgages and share issues to finance its operations. Labour, regulation and wartime disruption were recurring features of the company’s history. In 1914, Cadena was taken to court after a fourteen-year-old employee at its Bristol bakery worked excessive hours. The company apologised and cited the absence of staff after several employees enlisted. In the 1930s, Cadena established employee-support arrangements, including assistance for workers facing financial difficulty and a subsidised savings scheme. Pension support was later associated with the Staff Assistance Reserve. The company also organised social events for employees. The Second World War caused severe damage to the chain. Cafés in Southampton, Exeter and Bristol were affected by bombing, and Cadena sought to establish temporary branches on bomb sites. Postwar redevelopment created further difficulties: compulsory purchase arrangements in Southampton and Exeter changed the company’s property costs, while Cadena objected to the proposed Broadmead shopping-centre development in Bristol because it expected the scheme to divert trade from the existing centre. Despite taxation and reconstruction pressures, the company reported a return to financial health in the 1940s. A bakery project planned at Brislington eventually opened in 1949 in an existing building across the road from the intended site, while a former bakery location was converted into a café and a new Cadenita brand was introduced upstairs at Bristol’s Ritz Cinema. Tesco’s takeover in 1965 ended Cadena’s independent corporate history. Tesco planned to use the brand in supermarkets and to sell Cadena cakes and pastries, but the anticipated bakery expansion did not materialise. The cafés closed during the 1970s. The former subsidiary remained connected to Tesco and was renamed Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited in 2011. Surviving buildings and local recollections preserve aspects of Cadena’s history, including Cadena House in Tunbridge Wells, the former Berkeley Café in Bristol and the former Dellers premises.

1. 2011Former company renamed within Tesco structure

   The former Cadena Cafés Limited entity was filed under the name Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited following a registered name change.

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2. 1970Cafés close during the decade

   Cadena cafés ceased operating during the 1970s after the company entered Tesco’s ownership.

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3. 1965Acquired by Tesco

   Tesco launched and completed a takeover of Cadena Cafes Limited, then considered using the brand in supermarkets and for bakery products.

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4. 1949Brislington bakery and Cadenita development

   A bakery project associated with Brislington opened, while a former bakery site was converted to café use and the Cadenita format was introduced at Bristol’s Ritz Cinema.

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5. 1937Worcester café opens

   A Worcester development begun in 1936 opened as a Cadena café.

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6. 1933Acquisition of Dellers Cafés

   Cadena took over the Paignton-based Dellers Cafés business and associated premises.

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7. 1927Berkeley Café becomes AGM venue

   Cadena began a long-running practice of holding its annual general meeting at the Berkeley Café in Bristol.

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8. 1924Wine Street branch adds grill room

   The Bristol Wine Street premises were enlarged to include a grill room and quick-lunch counter.

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9. 1919Acquisition of Cheltenham cafés

   Cadena acquired Cosy Corner and the Oriental Café in Cheltenham from Ernest Edward Marfell.

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10. 1908Name changed to Cadena Cafés Limited

    The company adopted the Cadena Cafés Limited name recorded in its later history.

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11. 1905Name changed to Lloyds Cadena Cafés Limited

    The company changed its registered name from Lloyds Oriental Café Limited.

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12. 1902Cadena coffee blend and early branch network

    Branches in several English towns served a coffee blend marketed under the Cadena name.

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13. 1900Lloyds Oriental Café incorporated

    Companies House records identify the incorporation of Lloyds Oriental Café in 1900.

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14. 1895Business established as Lloyd's Oriental Café

    The business that later became Cadena Cafes was established under the name Lloyd's Oriental Café.

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A regional café and bakery chain combining coffeehouse service with formal dining, light meals, confectionery, entertainment and community-oriented social spaces.

• Cadena coffeeCoffee1902

  The company’s signature coffee blend was marketed under the Cadena name by 1902. It helped provide a common identity across a geographically distributed network of cafés and was part of Cadena’s effort to distinguish its beverage offer from ordinary tea rooms and restaurants.

• Cadena bakery productsBakery and confectionery

  Cadena operated bakeries and sold pastries, cakes and related baked goods through its cafés. After Tesco’s acquisition, plans were discussed to expand Cadena bakery operations and distribute Cadena pastries and cakes through Tesco supermarkets, although the proposed expansion did not fully materialise.

• CadenitaCafé format1949

  Cadenita was a Cadena-associated café brand introduced upstairs at Bristol’s Ritz Cinema after a postwar bakery relocation. The format illustrates the company’s experimentation with branded café environments alongside its conventional branches.

• Cadena cafés and grill roomsCafé dining1895

  Cadena’s core venues served coffee, tea, light meals and quick lunches, with larger branches offering distinct rooms for tea, smoking, dining and social functions. Certain locations also operated as music, dance or ballroom venues, making the café a broader hospitality and leisure proposition.

• 1965Accept Tesco takeoverM&A

  Cadena was a regional café and bakery company with a substantial branch network but faced the strategic realities of postwar retail redevelopment and changing consumer distribution. Tesco announced an offer in January 1965.

  What changed. Tesco acquired Cadena after offers were received for more than 90 percent of both preference and ordinary shares. The proposed post-acquisition strategy included placing Cadena cafés in Tesco supermarkets and selling Cadena pastries and cakes through Tesco’s retail network.

  Aftermath. The planned bakery expansion did not materialise as expected, and Cadena cafés closed during the 1970s. The former company later remained within Tesco’s corporate structure under another name.

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• 1949Develop bakery and Cadenita operations after wartime disruptionStrategy

  Cadena had suffered wartime damage to several cafés and was rebuilding its production and retail footprint in the postwar period.

  What changed. A bakery associated with the Brislington project opened in an existing building, while a former bakery site was adapted into a café and the Cadenita brand was introduced at Bristol’s Ritz Cinema.

  Aftermath. These developments broadened Cadena’s formats beyond its standard cafés, although the later Tesco takeover changed the company’s strategic direction.

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• 2007Former Cadena director John George White dies

  The BBC reported the death of former Cadena director and shareholder John George White, who had retired from the company in 1961 and later benefited from Tesco shares received in connection with the corporate transition.

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• 1965Tesco announces bid for Cadena Cafes

  Tesco announced its proposed acquisition of Cadena Cafes in January 1965, beginning the process that brought the café chain into the Tesco group.

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• 1965Tesco secures majority support for Cadena acquisition

  By March 1965, offers had been received for more than 90 percent of Cadena’s preference and ordinary shares. Tesco discussed introducing Cadena cafés into supermarkets and selling its bakery products through the retail network.

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1. Cadena Cafes Limited