House of Books & Friends and gunnercooke

House of Books & Friends CIC is an independent bookshop, café and events space based in the heart of Manchester. The idea was borne out of the pandemic by the founder of law firm gunnercooke, Darryl Cooke, who decided to do something to address the increasing levels of loneliness which were recognised coming out of the pandemic. He decided to bring together his passion for books with wanting to do something tangible to help. House of Books & Friends opened in December 2022, wholly funded by gunnercooke and set up in close conjunction with gunnercooke support staff and the gunnercooke foundation (which works with over 125 charities nationwide).

Through these links, House of Books & Friends has worked with a whole range of charities, raising awareness of, and helping address loneliness which can affect anyone, at any time. We operate a pay it forward mechanism across all areas: coffee in the café; books in the bookshop; and even in our event space. The shop is purposely overstaffed, ensuring that customers are able to have conversations and form connections with our team and other customers, we also have a 'Chatty Cafe' table, ensuring there is always someone to talk to.