Independents of Clifton?

Possibly the smartest suburb in England outside of the capital - bar Cheltenham's Montpellier and The Suffolks - Clifton is as much part of Bristol's centre as Westminster and Kensington are London's. It's not only home to Bristol's most famous sights - the suspension bridge and zoo - but has a golden stone Regency little town where the well heeled look out of their crescents and Paragon over less fortunate suburbs (and yes, I am jealous). It's home to several independents, but Elspeth Rushbrook reveals some ironies behind some companies we may respect and who would like us to believe that they're different from those awful corporate places down the hill.

Regional personnel manager of South Wales and Bristol's local chain of cafés, Coffee #1, told me why they are different from their competitor chains:

'There's no consistency [in Starbucks, Caffe Nero's etc]. They wear trainers and jewellery.'

Ooh, shocking! Really the thing that customers care about the most. Was that how they pitched the idea to a would-be financier?

What does No 1 do differently? It appears just like any other chain. How, for instance, does it reward its staff?

'Well sometimes we just praise staff on the spot. And we have cleanliness competitions.'

Despite the pictures of happy Africans on the café wall, no mention was made by the regional manager of fair trade principles for the suppliers. And even less for the staff in Britain.

Boston Tea party looks set to be more bohemian and laid back, surely? Named after the 18th C furore, we can surely expect some independence here? The Bristol Park St branch's upstairs and terrace are full of students and arty types. They promote fair and local trade and support charities. But ring up Park St's upstairs regional office, and you'll be told that they are looking for confident people to promote the company's ethos (which wasn't shared with me) and continuously mentioned the front of the shop (shop? - thought was a café) and its public face, in a tone you'd expect in a pushy hairdressers.

It's nice to see that Clifton perserves some old fashioned businesses such as the cobbler replete with moving mechanical man in the window, and a fill in staff who dropped a Stanley knife on my foot and lost the boot strap he was meant to sew back on (I did get free service for this, and better the second time than ubiquitous Timpson's).

'Cheap as chips' does not apply in Clifton Fish Bar. At £1.70 for the smallest takeaway portion of chips, this is the most expensive greasy parcel I have encountered. Still in Clifton, Whiteladies road fish shops charge £1.40 for better chips. There's nothing spectacular about the shop in the Village or the service - high garden furniture like silver tables whilst the Simpsons blare away at you and you get a cold back from the open door behind. My little bag of 'Best British Takeaway' included several potatoes that didn't quite make it through quality control - or the chip pan.

But I'm still fond of Clifton and I really ought to do an article about my favourite independents in the area... one for another time