An Esquires store in Corby, Northamptonshire, UK | Photo credit: Cooks Coffee

New Zealand-based café operator Cooks Coffee is seeking new investment to expand its Esquires Coffee chain in Europe and the Middle East and improve its click & collect, delivery and loyalty programmes. 
 

Dual-listed Cooks Coffee will undertake a share purchase plan with existing shareholders in New Zealand and tap selected new investors to raise up to NZ$1.7m ($1m) through the issue of 8.5 million new shares. 

Alongside outlet growth and digital enhancements, Cooks Coffee said new funding could also open the door to acquiring existing independent cafés to be rebranded and sold to franchisees. 

Read related news: Cooks Coffee Company forecasts ‘buoyant’ 2024 following strong sales growth 

Cooks Coffee currently operates 60 Esquires stores across the UK alongside 15 in Ireland. Esquires has a further 15 UK sites in development, according to its website. 
 

In July 2023, Cooks Coffee outlined plans to ‘strategically’ scale its Esquires coffee chain in the UK to reach 100 stores within the next three years. 

The business said it will seek to replicate its successful UK and Ireland operating model in Europe and the Middle East. Esquires’ only current other European market is Portugal, where it operates a single site in Porto. In the Middle East, the coffee chain currently operates approximately 20 outlets across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. It also operates three stores in China and single sites in Indonesia and Pakistan. 

Esquires is currently Cooks Coffee’s only café brand after its Triple Two business, which consisted of 11 operating franchised stores, was placed into voluntary administration on 23 October 2023.