Parent company Cooks Coffee expects to reach 100 Esquires Coffee stores across the two markets by the end of 2025 and is targeting 300 sites by 2034
Cooks Coffee Company has reported strong fourth quarter and full-year trading for its Esquires Coffee chain in the UK and Ireland.
The New Zealand-based café operator posted 35% year-on-year sales growth for the three months ended 31 March 2025 to reach £9.5m ($12.2m).
Esquires Coffee, which is supplied by Glasgow-based coffee roaster Matthew Algie, achieved 26% year-on-year annual sales growth to reach £35.1m ($45.2m).
In a press release, Cooks Coffee said the coffee chain withstood rising macro-economic pressures in its fourth quarter and remains focused on increasing its competitiveness across the UK and Ireland. The group ended the reporting period with 89 stores across the two markets and expects to surpass 100 sites by the end of 2025. It has a longer-term goal of operating 300 UK and Ireland stores by 2034.
“We are pleased to report another strong period of trading across our business with positive growth. We maintain our commitment to have more than 100 stores operating in the UK and Ireland by the end of this calendar year. As a result of the anticipated growth, the group’s healthy balance sheet and the strong trading momentum, we are confident about the future prospects of the group,” said Executive Chairman Keith Jackson.
Esquires Coffee is Cooks Coffee’s sole café brand after it placed Triple Two Coffee into administration in September 2023. Its strong performance in the UK comes amid a sales dip across the wider market.
World Coffee Portal’s Project Café UK 2025 report shows a 17% decline in the number of UK operators reporting sales growth of 5% or above over the last 12 months. Industry leaders are also less optimistic about future trading, with 27% of those surveyed expecting a deterioration across the next 12 months, compared to just 6% during the previous year.
Alongside its strong pipeline of new UK and Ireland stores, Cooks Coffee is also exploring “additional offshore opportunities” for Esquires Coffee. The Auckland-based café group currently operates 20 licensed Esquires Coffee sites across six Middle East markets.
