Calling Time on Tea

After nearly ten years trading in the leafy borough of Richmond-upon-Thames The Tea Box is to close its doors for the last time on Sunday 7 August at 6.30pm.

Owners Jemma Swallow and Mike De Souza are calling it time on tea on the high street to focus the business on its online offering.

“We have loved being part of the Richmond Community who have made us feel so welcome over the years. We selected the borough to launch our tea venture for many reasons, not least because we felt the clientele we wished to attract would appreciate the cultural activities we provided alongside our tea service of high quality loose leaf teas,” commented Jemma.

Having survived the turbulent economic uncertainties post-2007, due to the support and encouragement from its customers who have displayed a passion equal to owner’s own for high quality teas, The Tea Box has been responsible for upping the standard of tea offerings both in the borough of Richmond and elsewhere. Whether it has been other fellow café owners who have replicated the element of tea theatre including the use of a tea timer for the customer to brew their own tea, to online tea companies replicating the introduction of a ‘Tea mail’. Even Dragon’s Den Deborah Mead appeared to like The Tea Box brand name when she selected a new start up on the show with the same brand name only to discover Jemma and Mike had already protected the name as a registered trademark many years previously. Indeed it‘s not always been an easy journey as The Tea Box’s collision with German conglomerate Teekane proved in 2009 over another trademark registration, resulting in a victory for the local shopkeepers in Richmond keeping their distinctive logo in a “David versus Goliath” case.

Over the years, as the company’s tea sommelier, Jemma has been asked to give talks on tea, sharing her expertise to other café owners and members of the public. She plans to continue this consultancy work while expanding the company’s existing wholesale offering for the hospitality trade. Meanwhile, for this week only, The Tea Box is offering 25% off all retail stock; so don’t waste any time yourself and get there quick if you want to bag a tea bargain!

1 August 2016

The advert local newspaper refused to print!

When The Tea Box opened its doors in Richmond-upon-Thames on 17 October 2007, the local neighbourhood was promised the tea house was “About to Cause a Stir”. Eight year’s on we nearly did with a planned media campaign we hoped would go viral following the publication of a proposed half-page advert in the Richmond and Twickenham Times to promote our tea cocktail range.

From our Squiffy Earl, to our Irish Velvet and The Saint tea cocktail, not to mention our special celebratory cocktail The Torch for the Olympics, we love to explore the fun side of tea as the sun sets. On Friday nights and occasional Saturday and Sunday nights we turn into a mini tea bar with evening entertainment to sip your cocktails to, including poetry, storytelling and live jazz music. We are definitely are not all fur coat and no knickers!

The advertising campaign to promote our tea cocktails, however, never got off the ground though as it was decided by the advertising executives at the local paper that, although they liked our proposed advert, they considered it a bit too risky for their readership and that it might on balance upset a few of their readers.

Now we have our brand new website we can share it with the world for the first time.

We would love to hear what you think of it… go to @theteabox on Twitter or our Facebook page (links below) and let us know your thoughts! We have our finger hovering over the retweet button right now…

5 July 2012

‘The Torch’ cocktail celebrates the Olympics

The Tea Box launches a fantastic new alcoholic tea cocktail, “The Torch” next week as part of its Tipsy Tea^TM range to celebrate the games this summer.

What better tea than Gunpowder pinhead green tea to set your summer a light? Tea sommeliers at The Tea Box have conjured up a magical experience9 using this exotic tea by using it as a chaser to a white Sambuca shot.

Order “The Torch” and you will be served with a shot of Sambuca set alight to create your own burning flame for you to blow out before you throw back a double shot of Gunpowder green tea. The star-anise, liquorice and spicy flavours of the Sambuca combines with the smooth, warm, strong green tea to provide the perfect sensation. If you love Moroccan Mint tea and a tipple then this is the drink for you!

The tea cocktail will be available for a limited period only during the summer of 2012 during the Olympic Games. Get hold of “The Torch” while it is on the special’s menu for £5.50 until September 2012.

28 April 2011

Sovereign Tea^TM Celebrates Royal Wedding

The Tea Box launches a gorgeous new loose leaf tea blend to mark the celebration of the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday 29 April.

Taking the characteristics of both our future King and Queen and fusing them together, the blend provides a lovely display of beautiful pink whole rosebuds reminiscent of a truly elegant British rose such as Kate together with a scattering of regal blue cornflowers capturing the essence of our blue blooded monarchy. Both flowers are binded with an assertive base of bergamot reminiscent of earl grey underpinned with a solid black Chinese broken orange pekoe loose leaf tea.

Like no other tea this fragrant and pretty blend has a distinctive full-bodied flavor that delights the senses. Once tasted, never forgotten; just like the Royal historic occasion itself.

Sovereign Tea^TM can be bought in a bag or tin and retails at £7.50 for a 50g tin, £5.50 for a bag. Order yours now on 020 8940 3521 or pop into The Tea Box to try a pot for yourself.

ENDS

For more information contact or to obtain a sample to review:

Please contact Jemma Swallow on 07905 643914.

Notes to editor:

Jemma Swallow and Mike De Souza founded The Tea Box in 2007 to bring you a wide range of exquisite loose leaf teas and innovative tea blends using tea from some of the best tea gardens in the world. As well as providing a unique drinking experience, The Tea Box serves homemade cakes, traditional afternoon teas, cream teas, high teas, sandwiches and salads. Wine, cider, beer or champagne is also available for those who aren’t tea total. In its drive to support upcoming talent, The Tea Box, hosts regular poetry, comedy and music nights every month on Friday nights when the tea house stays open late until 10pm, as well as jazz on the last Sunday of every month. For contact details, opening times and to sign up to our tea-mail please visit www.theteabox.co.uk

Tea drinkers raises awareness of Ovarian Cancer

30 March 2009

Did you know that drinking at least two cups of tea a day lowers the risk of ovarian cancer? To promote this, sisters Lorraine and Alison Kent from Teddington are holding a Make Time for Tea fund-raising event at The Tea Box, 7 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1RX on the 12 April.

The all-day event, in aid of the Eve Appeal which funds groundbreaking research into gynaecological cancers, will help raise funds for ovarian cancer research and boost awareness of the disease. This cancer is known as a silent killer, as there are no main symptoms, and if left untreated it can be fatal. Research, however, has shown that the antioxidants found in tea have been scientifically proven to limit the development of cancer.

For every glass of Eve’s Temptation bought on the day, The Tea Box will donate 50p directly to the Eve Appeal. The specialist tea blend developed by The Tea Box is a mouthwatering blend of hot apple juice, white tea and ginger that provides the perfect spring detox. What’s more, if buy a 100g of any loose leaf tea or have one of The Tea Box’s lovely afternoon teas or high teas in the tea house, they will donate 10% directly to the appeal.

Lorraine, Alison and The Tea Box are supporting The Eve Appeal because it truly is a silent killer that few people are aware of. We want to make this event as much fun and as rewarding as possible for everyone who takes part throughout the day purchasing pins and teas, as well as learning more about tea and its importance in maintaining a healthy well-balanced diet.

We are holding it on Easter Sunday from 10am until 6.30pm in the hope it will raise more awareness of the disease while allowing as many people as possible to take part in the event.

ENDS

Notes to editors:
The Eve Appeal was set up to save women’s lives by funding groundbreaking research into gynaecological cancers. Its current focus is to develop effective methods of prediction, detection, treatment and care of ovarian cancer.
The world-leading research that is funded by The Eve Appeal aims to identify techniques that could halve deaths from ovarian cancer.
Publicly launched in 2005 with a target of raising £5 million in five years, The Eve Appeal is on course to achieve this target.

For further information about the fund-raising event, please contact Alison Kent (alikent@hotmail.com) or Lorraine Kent at (lorraine_kent@hotmail.co.uk)

For information about Ovarian cancer, please contact Ovacome; the UK-wide support network providing information and support for everyone affected by ovarian cancer. Visit www.ovacome.org.uk
Or call 020 7380 9589, Monday to Friday 9.00am- 4.00pm

For further information: Jane Lyons on 07831683307 or comms@eveappeal.org.uk
Liz Engel on 0208 663 1040 or pressoffice@eveappeal.org.uk

For photographs of Eve’s Tempation, afternoon tea or tea packaging please contact jemma@theteabox.co.uk or on 020 8940 3521/07905 643 914.

The Tea Box was founded in October 2007 by Jemma Swallow and Mike De Souza in response to a lack of establishments on the high street where you can buy a great cup of tea. Providing the perfect antidote to a plethora of coffee shops, The Tea Box serves and sells a wide range of exquisite loose leaf teas from some of the best tea gardens in the world. www.theteabox.co.uk; tea-ring; 020 7940 3521 tea-mail: info@theteabox.co.uk

11 March 2009

Tea Box wins trademark victory

A small British tea house has won a legal victory against a powerful German corporate, over the use of its trade mark, which features a teapot logo.

The Tea Box in Richmond, Surrey first opened its doors to the public in October 2007 as an alternative venue to the numerous highstreet coffee chains in the area. Just two months later the business became the focus of a legal challenge, led by a German tea manufacturer, part of the global Teekanne Group, over the registration of its trade mark. Teekanne claimed that the British shop’s application to register its teapot logo was a breach of their trade mark rights.

With the help of trade mark experts at UK intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers LLP, The Tea Box’s owners decided to contest the challenge. Now, after receiving an early indication from the UK Intellectual Property Office that it would be likely to find in favour of The Tea Box, the German business has decided not to proceed with its opposition to the application.

Jemma Swallow who owns and runs The Tea Box with her partner Mike de Souza, says:

“We are over the moon that common sense, and not commercial power, has won the day. No one we have spoken to has perceived any similarity between the two companies’ logos. There is no way that people could confuse the brand of our independent upmarket tea shop which retails loose leaf teas with that of a large German tea business, which sells tea bags and doesn’t even have any tea shops in the UK.

“Teekanne tried to force us to change our teapot logo to a tea cup. I’m glad that we decided to stand our ground; it is a huge relief to know that we won’t have to take out a loan to rebrand.”

Mark Armitage, trade mark attorney at Withers & Rogers LLP, says:

“It is great to have been able to help this small independent British business successfully counter a claim, which most people will view as unreasonable and heavy-handed.

“Trade marks exist because companies want to be able to brand their business in a distinctive way that makes them stand out from their competitors. However, in this case, the opponent was attempting to enforce their trade mark in an unreasonable way and the UK IPO agreed with our view that use of The Tea Box’s logo was not sufficient to cause confusion.”

ENDS

For more information contact:
Jemma Swallow at The Tea Box on 020 8940 3521, 07905 643914 or jemma@theteabox.co.uk or
Christine Smart or Bailey Lamburn at Smarts on 0121 456 3199 or christine.smart@smarts.co.uk.

Notes to the Editor

1. The Tea Box serves and sells a wide range of quality loose leaf teas, including its unique Frootea range and liquor teas. It is located at 7 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1RX – www.theteabox.co.uk. Tel: 0208 940 3521.

2. About Withers & Rogers
Established in 1884, Withers & Rogers LLP is one of the UK’s top ten patent and trade mark attorney firms providing expert advice on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights particularly for inventions, designs and trade marks.

With over 100 partners and staff, Withers & Rogers has three principal regional bases in London, Bristol and the Midlands. The firm’s client portfolio stretches across the Americas, the Far East and Australia as well as mainland Europe. Withers & Rogers has a client base of more than 10,000 organisations ranging from major corporations and multi-nationals to small and medium-sized enterprises and universities. www.withersandrogers.com

15 January 2009

Obamarama tea steeped in history

As the 44th President of the United States takes on one of the world’s most challenging roles during one of the world’s most challenging times, a new ObamaramaTM tea is launched today by The Tea Box to mark Barack Obama’s historic inauguration.

A delicate balance of China black Keemun tea with crushed chillies, the ObamaramaTM gives tea drinkers a dark, smooth taste that’s full of character with a fiery passion in its tail. Just like the man himself.

Perfect for those cold, winter days and nights, this wonderful new tea offers comfort just when you need it. Made from the most outstanding example of black Keemun tea in the last three years, this speciality house blend is sold in stylish black pouches and tins of 100g for £9.70 and £11.50 respectively.

Available to drink and buy at The Tea Box, 7 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey, ObamaramaTM is set to feature in ‘Obama On My Mind: The Obama Musical’ at The Hen and Chicken Theatre, Islington (3 -21 March), written by American Emmy award-winning writer Teddy Hayes.

The ObamaramaTM blend ushers in a new era of tea drinking that sees innovative tea blends complement traditional favourites such as Earl Grey and Darjeeling. We recommend you ditch the milk and stay healthier by putting a little fire in your cuppa instead.

ENDS
Notes to editor:
To receive a free Obamarama sample and/or for more information, please call Jemma Swallow on 020 8940 3521 or 07905 643914.

The Hen and Chicken Theatre, 109 St Pauls Road, Islington N1 2NA. Box Office: Tel: 020 7704 2001.

Continued….

Background

Jemma Swallow and Mike De Souza founded The Tea Box in response to a lack of establishments on the high street where you can purchase a great cup of tea. Providing the perfect antidote to a plethora of coffee shops, The Tea Box serves and sells a wide range of exquisite loose leaf teas and innovative tea blends using tea from some of the best tea gardens in the world.

All teas sold in the tea house are served in individual teaware that celebrates the various cultures in which tea drinking has played a major part over many centuries – from India and China to Morocco and the United Kingdom.

As well as providing a unique drinking experience, The Tea Box serves homemade cakes, traditional afternoon teas, cream teas, high teas, sandwiches and salads. Wine, cider, beer or champagne is also available for those who aren’t tea total.

The Tea Box has a working conscience too. Every tea is ethically sourced and nearly all its products are locally sourced.

While the tea house is open 7 days a week, its website www.theteabox.co.uk is open 24 hours for those wishing to register to discover the latest news on The Tea Box.

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