Inside the Attendant cafe
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British entrepreneurs convert Victorian men's public lavatory into a cafe, urinals part of the seating area
It may not seem like the most appetizing of venues to set up an eatery, but British entrepreneurs have turned a Victorian-era men's public toilet into a cafe, according to several reports.
The entrepreneurs spent £100,000 to power-clean and renovate the 19th-century public lavatory, turning it into the Attendant cafe in London.
The restaurant preserves many of the original features dating from the 1890s, including the tiles, cast-iron entrance, and porcelain urinals that have been turned into tabletops as part of the seating area, according to the reports in the the Daily Mail, the BBC, Vanity Fair and the Huffington Post, The cafe serves gourmet sandwiches, salads and the like.
The idea, according to the Vanity Fair piece, came to the two while they were at a nearby pub, looked up and noticed a "for let" sign on the ironwork of the no-longer-used lavatory.
For several pictures of the cafe, which opened last month, check out the Mail report or here at Foodbeast.
Toronto mobile publishing platform raises $1.5-million
Toronto-based mobile publishing platform Pressly has raised $1.5-million in financing from iNovia Capital and OMERS Ventures, the venture-capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System pension fund. according to this release.
The startup plans to use the funds to market its platform, which helps turn websites and blogs into interactive mobile experiences for tablets and smartphones. As described in this coverage, it uses a combination of technologies and templates "to allow publishers and other content producers the ability to quickly create mobile-ready websites."
Operating "in stealth mode" since 2011, according to the release , it has still signed partnerships with media firms including Ziff Davis, The Economist and The Toronto Star, as well as producing branded content marketing for other companies. It had rolled out its platform in beta and is now ready to offer free trials.
Have a look at an earlier story we wrote about the company here.
Unusual recruiting tactics for luring hires
When Meebo's co-founder wanted to add to her staff of engineers, she figured she'd need to connect with top recruiters. One way to lure them: she created a false online profile for a fictitious developer that she used as bait, reports this story in Inc. Have a read to find out what happened to her ruse, and some other unusual recruiting tactics.
KEY EVENTS AND DATES
East Coast Startup Weekend
Fredericton will be the venue for the first East Coast Startup Week to take place on March 20 to March 24. The week will include a lineup of speakers, demos, mentoring, competition, and a startup weekend, all aimed at boosting entrepreneurship. For more information and registration, click here .
BCBusiness Innovators of the Year
For the fifth year in a row, BCBusiness magazine will honour 20 of British Columbia's most innovative companies as innovators of the year. The event will take place on March 27 in Vancouver. For more information, click here .
Startup Weekend Kitchener-Waterloo
The 54-hour business-creation event known as Startup Weekend heads to Kitchener-Waterloo from April 5 to April 7.
EDITOR'S PICKS FROM REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS
CEOs need to get off their chairs and out the door
In spite of all the connective technology, there is nothing to compare to face-to-face interactions with customers and suppliers, which is why business travel is crucial, Chris Griffiths writes.
FROM THE ROSB ARCHIVES
How to break into the Indian market
In this Challenge published in March, 2012, Marport Canada saw India as the next big target for its deep-sea technology. The question was how to tackle it.
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