Cafes and Coffee Shops
The Cafes and Coffee Shops section on Catering Today explores the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the UK’s vibrant café and coffee sector. Covering independent operators, branded chains, and suppliers, it reports on store openings, menu innovation, sustainability initiatives, and shifts in consumer behaviour. With insights into operations, staffing, and technology, Catering Today provides hospitality professionals with up-to-date intelligence on the business strategies and market forces driving success in coffee-led hospitality.
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Sep- 2024 -30 September
Two Magpies Bakery launches Mini Magpies site
Two Magpies Bakery has launched its fourth Mini Magpies site, consolidating its restaurant in Holt to meet the rising demand from customers looking to eat on-the-go. The bakery and cafe group, which has six bakery and cafe sites across Suffolk and Norfolk, along with three Mini Magpies outlets in Southwold,…
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20 September
Knoops raises £1m on first day of crowdfunding campaign
Knoops has raised over £1m since launching its campaign on Wednesday 18 September via Crowdcube, the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform. The Crowdcube campaign went live on Wednesday (18 September) with an initial target of £1m, which had already been comfortably surpassed by the end of yesterday (19 September). The…
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20 September
Caffè Nero hits record Q1 sales of £147m
Caffè Nero has reported recorded sales of £147m for the first quarter, driven by very strong growth in the UK of 12.5% year-on-year and a like-for-like sales rise of 9.1%. The coffee house brand’s Q1 performance was “notably” above the general trend of the F&B sector, marking a continuation of…
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19 September
La Maritxu to open second café in Soho
La Maritxu, the Basque cheesecake operator, has signed for its second London location on Soho’s Kingly Street. La Maritxu will open a 271 sq ft café at 10 Kingly Street, adjacent to the entrance of Soho’s renowned food hub Kingly Court. The café specialises in Basque cheesecakes, originating from San…
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Aug- 2024 -22 August
Boston Tea Party FY sales fall 5% to £21.7m
Independent café group, Boston Tea Party, has reported a 5% drop in net sales to £21.7m from £22.9m during the year to 18 October 2023. The company has attributed its performance to the long-term negative effects on the high street, post-pandemic changes to work patterns which have impacted footfall, as…
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20 August
Thomas Kelly joins Espresso House as CEO
Espresso House, the premium café and coffee brand in the Nordics, has announced the appointment of Thomas Kelly as its new group chief executive officer, starting from September 2024. The news comes after Honest Burgers promoted Kelly from CEO to chair within a year’s time. Kelly will remain chair while…
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5 August
Knoops appoints two non-exec directors
Knoops has announced the appointment of Julian Metcalfe and Alice Avis as non-executive directors, both also being investors in the business. Metcalfe is a “renowned” entrepreneur and co-founder of Pret a Manger and founder of Itsu. Avis was previously CEO and chair of the Sanctuary Spa Group, an international beauty…
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Jul- 2024 -30 July
Greggs H1 sales rise to £960.6m
Greggs’ sales rose 13.8% to £960.6m during the 26 weeks ended 29 June 2024. The food-on-the-go retailer has announced its underlying profit before tax was also up 16.3% to £74.1m. During the first half of the year Greggs opened 99 new shops, including 30 relocations and 18 closures, resulting in…
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23 July
Canadian Second Cup plans expansion in the UK
Canadian coffee chain Second Cup has announced that it is seeking to receive proposals for the master franchise opportunity in the United Kingdom. This would mark a “milestone” for the coffee chain as it expands its global footprint and brings its café experience in the UK. With close to 50…
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19 July
Cooks Coffee appoints new UK-based board members
Cooks Coffee Company, the international coffee-focused café chain, that operates Esquires, the Organic Coffee Company in UK and Ireland has appointed Gareth Lloyd-Jones and Gordon Robinson as non-executive directors. The news comes after New Zealand based non-executive board member Mike Hutcheson resigned after more than 10 years on the board.…
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