The easy way to make money

easyCoffee offers franchisees a full support service in the fast growth coffee sector

Launched two years ago, the latest member of the ‘easy’ family, easyCoffee, is taking on the major coffee chains with its quality Fairtrade coffee at value prices.

In a booming market - the coffee market was worth £9.6 billion last year - selling quality coffee at up to 25 per cent lower prices than the major chains is a disruptor move that has already made easyCoffee one of the fastest growing coffee chains on the high street.

The business sold its millionth cup of coffee earlier this year, establishing it as the UK’s only value coffee chain for customers wanting a quality coffee at a value price in attractive surroundings.

Ambitious expansion plans

Now the business is embarking on ambitious expansion plans that will see it open 200 coffee shops over three years and install 800 vending machines in the next year. It recently secured £10 million of investment from Stellar Asset Management to develop its vending business.

With seven multi-franchise partners already committed to opening half of the proposed coffee shops, the company can focus on selecting the right partners for its remaining planned shops, as well as vending machine franchisees.

In particular, it’s currently seeking franchise partners for coffee shops in Hastings, Lancashire, Bristol, Bedfordshire, the Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and the south east.

easyCoffee CEO Nathan Lowry explains: “People are attracted by the popularity of the ‘easy’ brand and knowing that we have a tried and tested model that has supported our franchise partners to grow their business and become profitable faster.”

He is looking for experienced and well financed entrepreneurs keen to build their own multi-unit networks of between 10 and 40 shops.

Bespoke solution

For a £150,000 investment, easyCoffee provides a bespoke solution for each franchisee. This includes sourcing a suitable location; negotiating leases and setting up the shop; access to training programmes, including barista certification; marketing and innovation input, including shop launch activity; strategic planning and operations consultation; and opportunities for cross-promotion with other ‘easy’ brands.

As part of the £15,000 vending package easyCoffee offers franchisees, it provides, manages and supplies a vending machine in a high traffic location.

There are already over 50 of the 850 planned easyCoffee vending machines in convenience shops, leisure centres, forecourts and other outlets across the UK, as the company begins a major roll-out programme.

Investors, who usually invest in between one and five machines each, share a slice of the profits on sales, which they can track in real time on a specially designed telemetry app.

As well as expansion potential for vending franchises in airports in the UK and abroad thanks to its sister brand easyJet, being part of the ‘easy’ group means there is also scope for the business to expand its vending offering into other ‘easy’ businesses, such as easyHotel and easyGym.

Best of both worlds

Nathan says: “An easyCoffee franchise offers people the best of both worlds - they can be part of an iconic brand known and loved by consumers everywhere and be their own boss.

“They can face the unique challenges of running a profitable business today, but know that our expert team are behind them every step of the way.”