Coca-Cola GB Paints Independent Shop Owners as Local Royalty

Coca-Cola GB has unveiled a portraiture campaign that casts four independent British business owners as the subjects of formal paintings, with the works going on free public display at the Saatchi Gallery in London from October 28 to November 1. The initiative, called Local Royalty, was first detailed on October 27 and is the latest installment of the company's long-running Localness platform, which focuses on the people and families behind the hospitality and retail outlets where its drinks are sold.

The company commissioned portrait painters, each of whom has previously produced an official portrait of a member of the Royal Family, to depict the owners of a pub, a corner shop, a cafe and a fish and chip shop. According to Coca-Cola GB, the four businesses represent long-standing partners that have served its drinks in Great Britain for more than 125 years. The individuals were selected together with bottling partner Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and the MHP Group agency because of the impact they have in their own communities.

A Gallery Showcase for Everyday Trade

Each owner keeps the portrait and receives a donation to a local charity of their choosing. The subjects include Pindy Kaur, who took over a struggling fish and chip shop in Barnsley in the 1990s and spent more than 25 years building Ocean Fish Bar into a local favorite, and who was painted by Nicky Philipps. Simon Dafforn-Jones, known locally as Slugger, has run the Ferry Boat Inn in Dittisham, South Devon, for almost 20 years and gives local teenagers their first jobs; his portrait was made by Jamie Coreth.

Gino Verrecchia runs the University Cafe in Glasgow, which his grandfather Pasquale opened in 1918 and which still serves a century-old gelato recipe; Gareth Reid painted him. Kaual Patel has run the Torridon Convenience Store in Catford, south east London, since 2000, after his father bought it in 1984, and was painted by Nick Bashall. Coca-Cola GB's communications lead, Rhona Stephen, said the chosen businesses embody community spirit and span a busy corner shop in south east London to a Glasgow institution that has served the brand for generations.

Why the Brand Chose Formal Portraits

The company said it selected formal portraiture because of the tradition's history of recognizing people of status and influence. By placing independent business owners within that visual convention, Coca-Cola GB said it aims to give their everyday contribution prominence and permanence, and the gallery setting gives their stories a platform with cultural scale. The brand and creative strategy behind the work deliberately borrows the language of official honors to reframe shopkeepers as public figures.

The campaign runs across editorial, social and owned media, produced through MHP Group across MHP, Mischief and Studio La Plage. For people working in brand and creative strategy, the project illustrates a familiar industry pattern: instead of a conventional advertising push, the company built a story around real people and placed it in a cultural venue that generates its own coverage. Marketing teams weighing how to portray small business partners may see the format as a way to turn long-standing trade relationships into content that travels beyond paid media.

The exhibition opens to the public on October 28 and closes on November 1. Beyond the gallery, the company expects the portraits and the owners' stories to carry through its social channels and owned media, extending the campaign's reach while each painting remains with the business owner it depicts. What to watch next is whether the format becomes a recurring part of the Localness platform, and whether other markets adapt the approach as brands look for community-focused creative that does not rely on conventional advertising placement.