Cooks Coffee Company Ltd, which runs the Esquires and Triple Two café chains, said it plans a significant expansion across the UK and Ireland, with the number of stores expected to grow by 10% before the end of this year.
The Esquires chain, which had 50 UK cafés at the end of September, recently opened a new outlet in Islington, London, with a further three openings in towns in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire planned before the end of 2022.
The company, which is planning to list on the Aquis Growth Market in London in the fourth quarter of this year, expects to open a further five cafés in the UK in the first quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, Esquires will shortly have a new café operating in a Dublin suburb and a further opening is planned in County Carlow in the first quarter next year to add to the existing 15 Esquires cafés in Ireland.
The Triple Two brand, which has doubled the number of cafés to 20 in the last 12 months, is opening five new stores before the year-end and is also launching its first Triple Two Go van, a mobile coffee outlet, in Manchester.
The new openings will increase Cooks Coffee's total store count across the UK, Ireland and the Middle East to over 120 by the end of 2022, the company said.
It added that it has “a very healthy pipeline of additional opportunities in negotiation” which are expected to lead to further openings in the first half of 2023.
"We are delighted with the recent performance of both our Esquires and Triple Two cafés as we continue to build a business of ethical coffee brands with community spirit,” commented Keith Jackson, executive chairman of Cooks Coffee.
“Building on our position as the fourth-largest coffee focussed café chain in the UK (behind Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero), and the largest solely franchisor focused café chain in the UK and Ireland, we see considerable opportunities for further growth.
“Having emerged from the pandemic in a healthy position I believe Cooks Coffee is now poised for significant growth that will deliver value for our shareholders. I look forward to providing further updates in due course as we progress our planned dual listing on the Aquis Growth Market in London and continue to grow the business."