A couple have revealed their plans to open the town’s first whole foods cafe.

Self-confessed foodies Joe and Emma Hopkins are hoping to open The Button Warehouse which will sell only fruits, vegetables, lentils, grains, nuts and seeds, catering for the growing number of people who follow whole foods, vegan and vegetarian diets.

If Joe and Emma get planning permission for the Stanely Street cafe, they hope to open in the summer.

Joe, 30, said: “We are really optimistic and excited by the idea of opening a whole foods cafe in the town we have adopted as our home.

“For years I have dreamed of running a cafe which caters for those certain dietary requirements.

“We are aiming to be different from the typical high street cafe you find in other towns. Macclesfield has a community of fantastic independent cafes and we want to be part of that. We want to serve fresh, organic plant-based food, locally sourced, minimally processed.”

Joe, who has experience working in several cafes, said the business will also take a ‘holistic’ approach to healthy living with plans to offer a complementary therapy room for reflexology on the first floor, as well as regular workshops, talks and discussions on healthy eating and lifestyle.

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The name The Button Warehouse is a nod to premises former life as a loom shop selling buttons and silk.

Internally the couple plan to make the most of the historic character of the building’s beams and exposed brickwork.

The top and third floor will be used for storage, and there will be outdoor seating in the spring and summer.

Joe and Emma Hopkins are hoping to open The Button Warehouse in the Summer if planning permission is granted

The plan is for the business, which will create at least four new jobs, during the week and Saturday, and on the last Sunday of each month to coincide with the town’s Treacle Market. The cafe is a quite a career move for Joe and Emma, who moved to Macclesfield four years ago. The couple met at university studying French and Spanish and before arriving in Macclesfield taught English abroad. Joe is a freelance languages tutor while Emma is a trained reflexologist.

Joe, who lives on Victoria Road, Macclesfield, said: “Our love of languages took us all over the place teaching including France and Spain, and I hope The Button Warehouse will be a melting pot for those experiences.”