Tesco deal helps Esquires Coffee owner to surge in sales as it eyes 300 stores

A fresh deal with Tesco helped the owner of the Esquires Coffee chain to a jump in turnover.

Cooks Coffee Company, which is listed on Aquis, posted UK and Ireland store sales of £43.1m for the year to end March, a surge of 22.8 per cent.

Pre-tax earnings rose 6.8 per cent to £529,000, while group revenue almost doubled to £5.4m.

The firm, which has sites in Kingston upon Thames, Twickenham and Ruislip, opened a host of new coffee shops during the year, including 12 net openings in the UK.

It was also able to open 5 new stores in Ireland within Tesco stores as part of a new partnership with the supermarket.

The increase takes Esquires above 100 UK and Ireland stores for the first time, making it the sixth largest coffee chain in the UK.

Cooks sets sights on the north

Cooks said it is on the lookout for more UK locations for store openings – including in Derby, Liverpool, Blackpool and Hull. It has set its sights on a target of at least 300 stores in the UK as soon as 2034.

Cooks is also looking at expansion further afield, with a new store opening in Pakistan and plans for coffee shops in India and the United Arab Emirates.

Aiden Keegan, chief executive of Cooks Coffee, said: “Growth for the Esquires brand continues to significantly exceed reported industry growth in both core markets.

“Our expansion strategy, combined with positive like-for-like sales growth, demonstrates the resilience of the business and ability to attract and retain customers in both established and new locations.”