The U.K.’s iconic red phone booths no longer transmit many phone calls but innovative Brits are finding new uses for them.
Umar Khalid arrived in Britain in 2004 and would use the “call boxes” to speak with his family overseas.
Now he runs Kape Barako, a tiny café, out of a booth near London’s Hampstead Heath.
Khalid managed to cram two fridges, a grinder, an espresso-maker and a milkshake machine into his booth. Shelving on the door provides extra space when open.
“I’m very proud I’ve done something good for the community, for English heritage,” he said.
Ben Spier runs a salad bar out of his box in Holborn, London. He said it was difficult to find a fridge that fits, but the location is great and he has regular lineups.
Another man is using his as a mini shop for repairing mobile phones.
Some have been turned into 24/7 libraries running on the honour system.
One in Yorkshire is a wee art gallery.
The commercial booths are leased out by a company called Red Kiosk, which charges as little as $17 per day, and also sells them starting at around $17,000.
Red Kiosk was created in 2014 by two businessmen from Brighton, who approached British Telecom, which liked the idea of preserving the structures that get used on average less than once per day.
BT loses money on a majority of its remaining telephone booths and there are only about 67,000 left, according to Ofcom, the U.K. communications regulator.
Red Kiosk donates one-tenth of box sales to a charity that fights homelessness, dependency and unemployment.
With a report from CTV News London Bureau Chief Paul Workman
