A coastal coffee shop and bar in Parkgate is short-listed for a top national award.

Elephant Parkgate, run by coffee loving and self-confessed foodies Emma and Adam Mitchell on the historic Parade in Parkgate, is one of only six establishments in the prestigious Cafe Life Awards 2016 design of the year category and the only one from the north west.

If successful Elephant Parkgate would follow on from Elephant Neston on the market town’s high street which carried off the gold award for the best independent cafe/coffee bar in the country in the same awards, then known as the Cafe Society Awards, in 2013.

The premier awards celebrate leading operators in the café industry.

Organisers say the award ‘is aimed at those who are responsible for developing new concepts in the high street. The judges will be looking for designs that are innovative but commercially viable, providing an attractive and comfortable experience for the consumer’.

The business occupies the ground floor of a three storey property in the Parkgate conservation area.

Emma and Adam, an unlikely combination of an honours graduate in Spanish and a building services engineer, described the atmosphere of their original outlet on Neston high street as ‘a key part of Elephant Coffee’, adding: “We love the ‘theatre’ involved in making espresso-based drinks, the sounds of a traditional espresso machine, the aroma of the coffee, the hustle and bustle of the morning rush and the sweet smell of freshly baked pastries.”

Encouraged by the success of their first venture they then took their winning formula to the former Parkgate Coffee Shop in Hamilton House offering a wine bar experience alongside the coffee and light bites menu that had proved such a hit on the high street.

Next up is a conversion of the former Natwest Bank in Neston which is set to become the Elephant Bank Pizzeria & Bar.

Meanwhile Emma says: “When designing Elephant Parkgate we wanted to bring something to the area that people have never seen before. We always wanted to merge two separate business concepts together.

“The aspects of both a coffee shop and bar always looked perfect for this merge.

“Because of this idea the design for Elephant Parkgate got a lot more difficult with having to fit in equipment and floor space for a coffee shop and bar in a way that didn’t take away from the character of The Parade.

“However, after months of hard work, planning and pretty much knocking the old building down and starting over, we felt we were truly there with our crazy concept.”

She added: “There have been one or two people along the way who didn’t quite understand our interior design with questions such as ‘when are you finishing the roof?’ or ‘are the lampshades in the post?’ but we feel all together that although it is a fairly new and ‘out there’ design, people have really embraced it with open arms and love it as much as we do.

“The Café Life Awards are one of the most recognised awards committee in our industry which makes it even more flattering that they have thought Elephant Parkgate’s design to be in the top six in the entire UK.

“The awards are on September 21 in London where we will find out if we have got any further than the Top 6 Shortlist but either way we are thrilled to get this far.”