Mikel Coffee Company, Greece’s largest coffee shop group, has opened its debut site in London, with plans to reach three to five sites by the end of the year, MCA has learnt.
The first site opened on 93 Tottenham Court Road, on the former Carluccio’s delivery site, earlier this week, with the group targeting openings in Notting Hill, Earl’s Court and The City, for a mixture of corporate and potentially franchised stores.
The UK expansion is being led by Anastasios Tanas, who is a partner in the group, and owns Mikel two franchise stores in Greece.
He told MCA despite the competitive landscape in London, he saw potential for Mikel’s superior cold coffee offering, familiar to tourists through holidays, as well as its wide coffee and hot chocolate offering.
The London launch comes as the group expands globally in regions including the Middle East, US and Australia.
Tanas told MCA: “We are making ourselves into a global company – that is our vision.
“London is one of the most competitive markets in the world, alongside New York, and we want to establish ourselves here.
“I believe we are different to other high street coffee companies – we have more quality, we train staff to follow our recipes.”
Tanas said the shops were designed to be cosy and to appeal to a wide range of age groups.
The drinks offer is split between hot and cold, with options of small, medium, large and extra-large, filter, expresso and hot chocolate, with additions such as ice cream and condensed milk in some beverages.
Founded by Eleftherios Kyriakakis in 2008, Mikel has c180 sites in Greece, 14 in Cyprus and 10 in Dubai.
