Neighbourhood coffee shop brand Coffee#1 today announced continued strong trading for the first half of the financial year (June 2023-November 2023), with sales of £29.5M, representing total sales growth of 18.8% over the prior year.
Coffee#1’s like for like sales performance for the same period remained robust at 8%, underpinned by sustained customer growth of 1.2%.
Founded in 2001 and now operating across Wales, the Southwest, the South Coast and parts of the Midlands, Coffee#1 also opened four new stores during the same period taking the store estate to 118 stores, making it the 4th largest coffee shop brand in the UK. New openings in Godalming and Chesterfield expanded its operating footprint, while new openings in Yate and Cwmbran strengthened the existing operating area.
At the start of the second half of the financial year, Coffee#1 experienced particularly strong Christmas trading. It had record sales levels peaking at £1.37m during the week of 18th December, when nearly 300,000 customers were served.
The new store opening program has also continued, with openings in December in Derby and Fleet in January, and four further openings forecast this financial year, creating 35 new jobs. The brand now operates 118 stores with over 1,000 employees and a customer base that regularly exceeds 250,000 people per week. Despite inflationary pressures, the business remains committed to job creation and store growth with two stores in Westbourne (Bournemouth) and Loughborough currently under construction.
Coffee#1 also relaunched the Store Manager development program during the first half of the year (June 2023-November 2023), with 25 existing Assistant Store Managers joining the program and 8 succeeding into their first management roles with the company.
Coffee#1 Managing Director, Bruce Newman commented, “Once again, we are indebted to our store and support teams. They have put in the hard work required to deliver some excellent results. It takes first-class service and great teamwork, along with an outstanding menu, for our customers to want to come back time and time again. It’s been fantastic to witness that happening and to see so many of our employees progressing their careers with us in the first half of the financial year. While inflationary pressures remain, we are optimistic that our brand has broad appeal and expect to see sales build over the course of the remainder of the year”.