Esquires Coffee, the Canadian franchised coffee shop group, is targeting an estate of 200 UK coffee shops by 2020, M&C Report has learnt.
The Cooks Global Foods Group-owned group is seeking franchisees to open a mixture of high footfall locations including retail parks and high streets across the UK to reach this number.
The group is preparing to open its 25th UK store in Coventry West Orchards Shopping Centre in mid-June and has sites in Manchester and Bristol in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, the group is continuing with its refurbishment exercise, which began in September last year, to position Esquires Coffee as a main player within the UK premium coffee market by increasing footfall and ultimately resulting in increasing sales.
Kerry Noble, marketing manager for Esquires, told M&C the design is intended to look more artisanal with greater attention paid to shop displays and packaging as well as emphasising local accents.
The next location to be reopened following refurbishment in Coventry is inspired by the area’s car-making heritage.
The first stores to be completed with the new look are Stevenage and Durham, which Esquires said have witnessed “fantastic increases in sales and footfall.”
Noble said Esquires anticipates having completed three-quarters of the refurbishments by the end of this year with all 24 existing sites to be re-branded by the end of next year.
The group is looking to continue to grow after its acquisition by Cooks Global Foods in 2013. Last year a spokesperson for the group said it will look to double its size in the next couple of years.
Meanwhile Esquires international expansion is continuing with the signing of a master franchisee in Egypt to boost its Middle East expansion plans.
The agreement with Egyptian food service entrepreneurs Yasser Hamed and Samy Nada runs for ten years to develop 50 stores in Egypt.
Esquires Coffee already has a strong presence in the Middle East with stores in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.
