NACS Carrickfergus praises 'kind gesture' after customer's donation

NACS (Not Another Coffee Shop) posted on their social media page this morning (January 17) about the “kind gesture”.

"One of our lovely customers very kindly left £50 behind the counter to cover the cost of a tea or coffee of any pensioners that come to the shop,” the Facebook post read.

"Thank you very much for your generosity.”

Owners confirmed this morning that a number of pensioners have already benefitted from the goodwill donation, which was handed over to staff at the café at the end of last week.

It comes just a few months after NACS, located on West Street in the town, made a decision to switch to ‘cash only’ on the premises.

The family-owned coffee shop joins a growing number of small businesses across Northern Ireland who have seen their costs – including credit card processing fees – spiral in recent years.

Fees vary between different providers, ranging from less than 2 percent to as much as 6 percent of the value of each transaction, according to NI Business Info.

Alongside removing the option of card payments, the café has also had to make other cost savings wherever it can, such as removing Wi-Fi from the premises.

The move to ‘cash only’ was met with positive feedback from the majority of customers, with some suggesting that card machine fees could be ‘crippling’ for small businesses.