Cooks Coffee Company Limited (AQUIS:COOK), the international coffee focused café chain, has announced a positive update on trading for the UK and Ireland for the three months ended 31 December 2025, together with an update for the first nine months of the current financial year ending 31 March 2026 and an update on openings for calendar year 2025.
Trading performance
The Group delivered a strong trading performance across both the UK and Ireland during 2025/FY26 to date, with continued growth in system sales, positive like-for-like sales and disciplined network expansion.
For the nine months ended 31 December 2025, UK Esquires stores achieved sales of £21.9m (NZ$ 49.4m) with growth of 18.3% and like-for-like sales growth of 5.1%.
In Ireland, total store sales increased by 27.0% to £9.9m (NZ$ 22.3m) for the nine-month period, with like-for-like sales growth of 6.3%.
This momentum was supported by a positive Q3 FY26, during which:
· UK total store sales increased by 18.4% year-on-year, with like-for-like growth of 2.0%
· Ireland delivered total store sales growth of 25.3%, with like-for-like growth of 3.8%
Market context
According to data published by the Allegra World Coffee Portal, the UK branded coffee shop market recorded outlet growth of 3.5% and sales value growth of 5.5% during 2025. Against this backdrop, the Board is pleased with Esquires Coffee’s performance, which continues to outperform the wider market on both sales’ growth and network expansion with store sales for calendar year 2025 of £28.6m (NZ$64.6m) in the UK and £12.8m (NZ$28.9m) in Ireland.
Store network
Esquires Coffee continued to expand its footprint across both core markets during 2025.
In the UK, the network opened 18 new stores and closed seven, resulting in a net gain of 11 stores with 81 stores trading at 31 December 2025 (2024: 70). All stores are franchised in the UK.
In Ireland, four new stores were opened with no closures, resulting in a net gain of four stores and 21 stores trading at year end (2024: 17). Of these, 17 are franchised and four are company managed.
The Group earns revenues primarily through royalties, product sales and franchise fees.
Post-period developments
The Group recently announced that Esquires Coffee has entered into a Master Franchise Agreement (“MFA”) for the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), one of the fastest growing markets for specialty coffee outlets.
The MFA is a 10-year agreement, with a right of renewal, and provides for the opening of a minimum of 50 Esquires Coffee outlets in the UAE over the term of the agreement. The parties to the agreement are successful operators in the UK with multiple stores in the Southeast of England.
Outlook
The Board remains encouraged by the Group’s trading momentum, the resilience of the Esquires Coffee brand and the continued demand from franchise partners across both the UK and Ireland. The Company continues to focus on disciplined network expansion, supporting franchisee profitability and performance and maintaining strong brand standards and differentiated food and beverages offerings.
Aiden Keegan, CEO of Cooks Coffee Company, commented:
“We are delighted with the performance delivered across both the UK and Ireland during 2025. The continued growth in system sales and positive like-for-like performance reflect the strength of the Esquires brand and our long-standing focus on quality, organic ingredients and balanced food options.
“Against a challenging consumer backdrop, the business has continued to grow, expand the store network and outperform the wider market. We remain focused on disciplined expansion and supporting our franchisees as we continue to build the Esquires Coffee brand internationally.”
