18/05/2026
AUDREY HIGGINS
Before she became director and company secretary of H.R.Higgins, Audrey Higgins was a young woman stepping out of Bond Street Underground station during the Second World War, hoping that her father and the business had survived another night of bombing.
In 1942, aged just sixteen, Audrey joined Harold Higgins at the very beginning of H.R.Higgins. From roasting rooms in South Molton Street to Duke Street in Mayfair, she became part of every aspect of the business.
She packed and delivered coffee across London by bus and underground, managed accounts by hand, served customers, lectured on coffee and later travelled to visit suppliers in East Africa. Customers knew her simply as “Miss Audrey”.
Her life spanned some of the most important decades in British coffee culture, from post-war rationing to the rise of the modern coffee house.
Through dedication, warmth and an unwavering belief in the business her father built, Audrey Higgins helped shape H.R.Higgins into the company it remains today.
Right from coffee’s discovery in the 1500s, there have been those whose passion and devotion have earned them a place in coffee history. Audrey Higgins must surely be one of them.
