Man queues all night to be the first to win year's supply of Tim Hortons' coffee

An exhausted nightshift worker has won a year's worth of free coffee after he spent 15 hours camping to be a Tim Horton's first UK customer.

Published 2nd Jun 2017
Updated 8 th Aug 2023

Stuart Wightman, 24, braved the elements and camped outside the Tim Hortons franchise so he could be their first customer.

The young dad was the first person to get his hands on a "triple, triple, large" cup of coffee and also bagged year's supply of the hot stuff.

Tim Hortons

Picture: SWNS

Hundreds of coffee fans lined up to sample the Canadian chain's menu at their store in Glasgow, with many waiting since the early hours.

The customer services assistant from Dumbarton said he was "absolutely delighted".

He said: "I was going to be here at 2pm  (on Thursday), but because I was looking after my son I didn't get here until 6pm.

"I had been up for about 29 hours and obviously really needed the coffee, I think I managed to get about four 20 minute naps in during the night.

"I saw on the internet that there was a big hype about it, but I was really surprised that it was this big a deal."

Customers queued for up to an hour to be the first try Tim Hortons. Picture: SWNS

Despite being the first customer in Europe, he admitted being a stranger to the Tim Hortons brand.

He added: "To be honest, it was just word of mouth that I had heard of it, this is my first time here.

"I'll definitely be coming here a lot, I get two free coffees everyday so they will be coming in handy for the nightshifts I work.

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"I think they will do really well in Glasgow, the type of food that they sell is really popular here.

"Everyone knows how well Krispy Kremes has done, so I think people really like the whole junk food and coffee dynamic."
Staff dressed as Canadian Mounties greeted eager fans outside the shop on Argyle street promoting the brand's heritage.

Picture: SWNS

The chain was founded by Tim Hortons who was a famous ice hockey player and wanted to build a place where "everyone felt at home".

The company's chairman David Clanachan, was born just a few miles away in Clydebank and said he wanted the first European store to be in Glasgow.

He said: "I remember coming over here and going to the shipyards with my grandfather and seeing all my aunties and uncles.

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"The demographics in Glasgow were very similar to where we started the chain in Canada to it made sense to open our first UK store here."

Andrea Best, 75, flew all the way from Vancouver, Canada just to be at the big opening.

She said: "Whenever I come over here, which is about once every two years, I have to bring my own coffee and donuts here. So now I don't have to.

"We're big fans of Tim Hortons over in Canada, they have the best coffee in the country.

"We just love it."

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The coffee chain has a turnover of around £3 billion and has appeared on the famous US sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

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