Cooks Coffee FY sales rise 36% in UK&I
The group operated 89 sites across the UK and Ireland by the end of March 2025, a 19% increase from 75 the previous year
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Esquires Coffee, the operator of cafe chain Cooks Coffee, has reported a 36% rise in total franchisee store sales to NZ$79.6m (£35.3m) in the UK and Ireland for the year ended 31 March 2025.
Group revenues increased by 43% to NZ$6.7m (£2.9m) during the same period. This included NZ$1m (£440k) in sales from Dairygold stores over a 3.5-month period from mid-December 2024. Excluding Dairygold, like-for-like revenues rose 22.1% to NZ$5.7m (£2.5m).
Meanwhile, EBITDA excluding impairment losses increased to NZ$1.32m (£590k), from NZ$0.33m (£150k) the previous year.
It comes as Cooks Coffee’s UK store sales grew by 35% in GBP and 45% after currency conversion, totalling NZ$55.6m (£24.6m) during the period. Industry-wide growth in the UK stood at 9%.
In Ireland, store sales rose by 22% to NZ$24.1m (£10.6m), against industry growth of 1%. Dairygold outlets, which were added to Esquires’ portfolio in December, accounted for 5.5% of total annual sales in Ireland.
The group operated 89 sites across the UK and Ireland by the end of March 2025, a 19% increase from 75 the previous year. Net store growth was 18% in the UK and 20% in Ireland, compared with industry growth rates of 4% and 1% respectively.
According to Esquires Coffee, its expansion strategy has focused on market towns, housing developments, retail parks and suburban locations. It also cited organic coffee and an enhanced food offer as contributing factors to sales performance.
Esquires Coffee had 71 UK stores at the end of the financial year, up from 60 a year earlier, with 14 new outlets opened and three closed. A further six stores opened by 18 June 2025, including locations in Hertford, Clifton (Nottingham), Maidenhead, Shirley, Leighton Buzzard, and Crowthorne. Only one store in Shepherds Bush closed in March.
Sales for the first 11 weeks of the 2026 financial year were 30% ahead of the same period in 2024, with like-for-like sales up 3.4%.
In Ireland, the number of outlets grew to 18, an increase of 20%, including four new stores in Dairygold Co-op Superstores located in Midleton, Mallow, Carrigaline and Raheen.
Systemwide sales in Ireland for the first 11 weeks of the 2026 financial year were 23% ahead of the previous year, with like-for-like growth of 6.8%.
The company said the new banking arrangement with Bank of New Zealand had allowed for the full repayment of high-cost second-tier debt and would reduce interest costs.
