Redemption Roasters

Redemption Roasters started in 2016 when the UK Ministry of Justice approached Max Dubiel, then a strategy consultant, and Ted Rosner, a corporate solicitor, about installing a working coffee roastery inside a prison. They built the first roaster at HMYOI Aylesbury, training young people in custody to roast and cup coffee as a route into a trade after release, and moved to a larger production site at HMP The Mount in 2020 as the volume grew into several tonnes a month. The company describes itself as the world's first prison based coffee roaster, and in 2026 it received the King's Award for Enterprise for the model.

The Islington High Street cafe is the group's largest to date, a high ceilinged room with big windows that opens onto a back garden and hides a lower level locals call the grotto, together seating around seventy between the two floors. The coffee itself, roasted by trainees and sold under the Redemption name, sits at the center of the room rather than off to one side, with the training and reoffending story printed straight onto the bags.