Joe Trewellard, left, and Steven Winter at the new Union Yard café selling local produce on the corner of St Stephens Street and Surrey Street in Norwich. Photo: Bill Smith

A new artisan tea and coffee bar helping to champion the cause of local businesses has opened up in the city centre.

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From scrumptious cakes to freshly-made sandwiches, virtually everything served up in the Union Yard tea and coffee bar, on St Stephens Street, has been made in Norfolk.

The cafe serves a wide range of tasty treats including traditional English favourites such as treacle tart, Battenberg cake, and sugar mice.

It also has a great selection of coffee and loose-leaf teas - for which tea-drinkers are each given a little hourglass timer to tell them exactly when their tea is ready to drink for optimum taste.

Union Yard has been set up by Steven Winter, 30, and his wife Hannah, 31, after they previously opened Dozen Artisan Bakery in the Golden Triangle, and their tea and coffee bar is managed by Joe Trewellard.

Mr Winter said: “We want to support local food and local producers, and thought there was a gap in the high street for an independent tea and coffee bar that serves local food.

“When we set up Dozen we realised how important it was to have the support of the local community - if we do not support each other then it is difficult to survive.

“For Union Yard to be able to support the local bakers, the butchers, and others is fantastic because I was in their position before with Dozen.

“We just need to get the word out there that we are here, and we are local.”

Mr Winter, who lives in Cringleford and has two children, said Union Yard specialises in everything it serves.

“We want everything to be a specialism - everything we do is full of integrity from the coffee to the teas to the sandwiches to the biscuits.

“I love food so what we sell has got to be absolutely right.”

All the sandwiches are made on-site along with some of the other goodies.

The local independent producers that also supply Union Yard include Dozen, which is now run by Tom Harding, Pye Baker of Norwich, in Aylsham Road, Golden Triangle-based Honeysuckle Cakes, Harveys Butchers, in Grove Road, and Little Melton Gourmet Yoghurts.

Union Yard opened a couple of weeks ago, and Mr Winter said in the future he would like to open more tea and coffee bars.

Local food and drink producers interesting in supplying Union Yard should contact Mr Winter via #@unionyard on Twitter

• Are you opening up a new independent business in Norwich? Call reporter Emma Knights on 01603 772428 or email emma.knights@archant.co.uk