Lynsey Harley trained as a Q Instructor under Tracy Allen in 2011 and won the UK Cup Tasting Championship before founding Modern Standard on International Women's Day 2015. She had worked at Fernandez & Wells in Soho, home to the first Synesso Cyncra in the UK.
She started with a single 20kg Diedrich, then returned to her hometown Glenrothes in December 2019 to fill a 15,000 sq ft warehouse with four Diedrich roasters up to 70kg. The London Coffee Studio sits at 6A Clink Street in Borough.