Our Story

Hi, we’re Daniel (left) and Sean (right) coffee and BBQ lovers, longtime hospitality folk, and founders of Greyskull. What started as a simple pop-up has grown into a permanent café in Hastings. But behind that leap is a decade of planning, learning, and shaping our lives around one goal: to create a place that brings people together over great coffee, good food, and even better company.

From Pop-Up to Café

Greyskull started as a Sunday pop-up — just us, a coffee machine, and an outdoor kitchen. The idea was to test it over the summer. See what worked. But after just two events, we were offered a permanent space at St Andrew’s Mews.

It all sounds fast. And in some ways, it is.

This didn’t come out of nowhere

From the outside, it probably looks like this all happened fast. We did a couple of pop-ups, and now suddenly we’re opening a café. Must be nice, right?

But the truth is, this has been a long time coming. Quietly in the background, we’ve been shaping our lives around this for over a decade.

A different kind of ambition

Back in 2012, when we first got together, we talked a lot about what we wanted from life. Not just the career stuff — the actual day-to-day.

We saw how easy it was to end up stuck. Chasing promotions, earning more, buying more, needing more. But feeling less connected to what you’re actually doing.

We didn’t want that. We wanted to work hard at something we cared about. And build our lives around it.

Life on the boat

We bought a narrowboat and moved onto the London canals. No mortgage. No rent. Not exactly luxurious, but it gave us time, space and options.

We lived on that boat for nine years. Paid it off in three. And from that point on, we had freedom to make choices.

Taking a step back to move forward

First, Sean left his job in restaurant marketing and branding to go freelance. Daniel backed him while he found his feet.

Once things were steady, it was Daniel’s turn. Like many people, Daniel loved coffee and had a dream of opening his own coffee shop. So to make it happen, we decided he should learn the industry properly from the ground up. He left his well-paid job and started again as a trainee barista.

Before long, he was managing a flagship coffee shop in Seven Dials. Quietly getting ready for what would come next.

Let's move to the seaside

We always said we’d open a coffee shop by the sea. We even spent our honeymoon campervanning across the south coast, scoping out beach towns to live in. We visited loads of places, but Hastings stuck. Creative. Slightly scruffy in the best way. Busy in summer, but still breathing in winter.

Queens Road had something about it. We didn’t overthink it. It just felt right.

Coffee + fire

We knew if we were going to open something here, it needed to offer something new.

Daniel had the coffee side covered. Sean brought the food — especially anything smoked or cooked over fire. He’s always loved barbecue, and over the years has built a bit of a reputation for it. Whole lambs and pigs cooked at garden parties. Bacon made from scratch. Cold-smoked mackerel. Big flavour, done simply, and always cooked with care.

Let’s test it

In January, we took a month off and travelled. Came back with a head full of smoky food stalls and slow mornings in cafés. We decided to give it a go.

We bought a coffee machine, built an outdoor kitchen and did a one-day pop-up at St Andrew’s Mews. It worked. So we did another. That worked too.

Right time, right space

After the second pop-up, we were offered the main café unit at the Mews. It was earlier than we’d planned — but everything pointed to yes.

So we said yes.

What Greyskull is

It’s a coffee-first brunch spot. A short menu, made with care. House-cured bacon. Fire-cooked flavour. Great coffee, looked after properly.

The kind of place we’d want to go to. And a project we built slowly — but deliberately.