A new business that took over a popular coffee shop in Marlow will sell handmade pizzas by the slice, as well as hot doughnuts and ice cream.

The Resolute has taken over the previous Costa Coffee site in Higginson Park and owners Nina and Karl Shaw say the café will have a “different food offering than what was [there] before”, with pizzas – whole and by the slice – made fresh on-site and a range of hot and cold drinks including coffees, hot chocolate and smoothies.

Costa Coffee closed down earlier this year after coming to the end of its lease.

The Resolute will open at 6.30am and close at 10pm – a move Nina hopes will set the café apart from Costa.

She said: “It will move away from being generic coffee shop hours and just selling pre-packaged sandwiches, cake and coffee.

“If people want to come in and get a pot of salad or a pizza, they can sit in and eat it, they can have it outside or take away and add it to their own picnic.”

The café has also applied for an alcohol licence, and is hoping to sell wines, beers and ciders.

The area directly outside The Resolute also now belongs to the café, allowing customers to eat at the tables and, during busy periods, allowing the couple to “gently police” the area to make sure customers have enough spaces to enjoy their food.

After Costa closed down, businesses slammed the “astronomical” rent price of the site, with Marlow Chamber of Commerce president Aimee Smith saying the fact that a chain had been forced out because of the price “speaks volumes”.

But Nina said the couple’s rent was far lower than the £85,000 Costa was reportedly paying, and said she was confident that as an independent business she and Karl would be able to make it work.

She said: “We hope people will embrace the fact that it’s an independent.

“It is going to be trial and error so we hope people will bear with us. We hope to get an idea of what the people of Marlow like and dislike, and what they want, and then we’ll close in the winter for a couple of weeks to fully refurbish.

“When we re-open, people will be able to see how their pizzas are made – sort of like a pizza theatre – as it will all be done in front of them.”

The couple currently live in Windsor and are hoping to move to Marlow soon, with Nina saying it was the Higginson Park setting that drew them to the site.

She added: “I’ve been coming to Marlow for years – I used to come here as a child and now bring my own children here. The setting is fantastic. We love it here and are very excited to open.”

The Resolute is expected to open next Friday (June 15).