Is This The Next Howard Schultz?

That was the question posed to Doug Williamson, one of the original founders of Esquires Coffee, now CEO of Esquires Coffee UK. Anne Drdul reports

Haha, maybe the next Charles Shulz,” he laughs. “I’m flattered by the question, but it’s probably more of a juxtaposition than a comparison. We in the coffee industry owe pretty much everything we have to Starbucks. Anyone who claims otherwise is probably not being completely honest with themselves.”

But that’s where the comparison and compliments end. “Do you shop at Starbucks?”

[Pausing, almost uncomfortably] “I can’t drink Starbucks any more,” Doug confesses. “My tastes are more bohemian. There is so much inspiration to be garnered from one of the thousands of indie coffee shops in the UK, so that’s where I typically spend my time.

“It’s strange, when I was back home in Vancouver, Starbucks was pretty much my go-to spot.”

He’s noticeably uncomfortable being asked about his coffee buying habits, so I change the subject. “Let’s talk about Vancouver then. Can you give me a quick rundown on the history of Esquires?”

“Sure,” Doug chuckles, almost as if he’s happy to get this question out of the way early.

“I founded Esquires Coffee with a high school friend in 1992. We opened 37 stores in Canada, mainly on the West Coast, and we were pretty happy with that. The lifestyle was good for a couple of 23 year olds. We had a great mentor, who kept driving us though.

“Starbucks entered the UK in 1998 and when we were approached around the same time to see if we would be interested in expanding in that region, we had to go for it. We expanded into the UK in 2000 and then into Ireland in 2001. We expanded into New Zealand in 2005. We have stores in 11 countries last count, with many more to come.”

I wanted to hear more about the early days. How does one take one store and parlay it into a global success story? “What’s the secret to Esquires’ success over the years? Or is that a silly question?”

“It’s not silly at all. It’s probably the best question anyone could ask, because it’s honest.

“I think the key to our success and growth is twofold. Our shops were incredibly hip because we had a true artist design them. We were ‘indie’ long before indie was cool. Secondly, we were innovators in terms of delivering a dynamic customer experience.

“We were truly honoured that people chose to buy stuff from us and we treated our customers like we actually cared about them. We made people feel good about themselves. It was genuine, too.”

It’s time to talk about the UK specifically, so I switch gears. Give me a rundown on your highlights so far, as CEO of the UK. How about we start with when and why you decided to make the move. I mean, who leaves beautiful Vancouver for the awful British weather?

“Well, Vancouver weather is really not that much better. I travelled to the UK extensively back in the early 2000s. I love everything about the British culture - the diversity, the sense of humour, the self deprecation, the theatre scene, the pub culture, the architecture - I could go on. It feels like home here.”

And professionally? Has everything panned out as you expected? Was it easy to adjust to working and doing business in the UK?

“I have to say it was not easy - not at all in the first year. I underestimated the cultural differences between North America and the UK. The way of doing business in the UK is very different.”

“How are you getting on two plus years later?” I ask, almost consolingly. “Have you adjusted to the culture and task at hand?”

“Things are completely different now. Most of our estate has been rebranded and renovated. We have one of the best beverage menus in the market.

We’re about to launch a new brunch menu and are just finishing the final touches on our new EPOS system and loyalty scheme. We are here to do some amazing things and we’re not going to give up until the job is done.”

“But first you have to stop Costa Coffee, right?” I ask, prodding just a bit. It would be hard to interview an up-and-comer on the coffee scene without mentioning Costa.

“Costa are the Goliaths in the UK. But I do see a day where consumers begin to draw the line. People, generally, don’t like being devoided of choice.”

Our interview takes place over two days, first in a greasy spoon diner near his offices in Fulham. Doug says he loves the unpretentiousness of the place. He says he admires the people who own and run the cafe. “Salt of the earth folks,” he claims. I can tell he feels comfortable here and I have to self confess a noticeable lack of judgement myself.

The next interview takes place in Bradford, where Esquires has just opened its latest shop. The store looks stunning. Every detail has been attended to, but it’s more of a raw precision. The menu is vast. The food offer is on trend. There’s definitely something special to this place.

It doesn’t look or feel that much like a chain, it’s far closer to an ‘indie’ café.

“So how does Esquires compete with the so called Goliaths?”

“It begins with a vision and that vision is why I’m here. We have an absolute guru leading our global branding and positioning. His name is John MacDonald. John’s like this super cool hippie. It’s impossible not to love this guy, he’s the real deal.”

The coffee market is extremely competitive, I remind Doug. A vision is great, but at some stage one does come up against the harsh realities of street warfare. The ‘big three’ cannot be ignored.

“If our aspirations were to be the number one brand, we would certainly be nervous. Our focus is on finding great franchise partners and making sure they make money. We have to find the right people and put them into the right properties at the right rents.”

“I suspect finding suitable locations must be your biggest challenge?”

“Absolutely. We aren’t a high street brand and this will sound strange, but I don’t want us to be seen as a high street brand. Our franchise partners are in business to make a profit at the end of the day, not to pay landlord mortgages.

“You have to be prepared to take a wider position in the market and grow towards the centre of the target.

In a few years we hope to have 100 stores and if we aren’t seen as a high street brand I view this as an excellent execution of our plan.”

Our table is cleared and I’m offered another drink. The delicious flat white has done me in, I confess. The server suggests I try one of their amazing cheesecakes, which I accept. A few moments later I dig into a raspberry cheesecake, which is divine. Munching away, I tell Doug I want to know more about the model. “What makes Esquires different?”

“Our focus is on branding the customer experience and being really important to the people that honour us by spending their hard earned money in our shops. We’re not interested in being the supermodel of the coffee sector - we want to be the cute, fun and quirky brand that makes people feel good about themselves.”

I can’t help but notice USB ports right above table height in the cosy benches where we’re seated. It’s a small but an appreciable detail.

“That’s just a small part of branding the customer experience. Coffee houses have become the office for many people today. They’re the study hall too. Coffee houses have always been a great meeting place. The environment needs to respect today’s lifestyle and technology is a huge part of our everyday life.”

“Can you map out the next few years for Esquires?”

“Right now our focus is on finding great operators. They could be a single store or a multi-store operator. We have some excellent programmes; we’re making Esquires an extremely attractive investment.”

Are there any particular regions you’re focused on?

“We’re more focused on the right locations within each region and franchise partners dictate where we go, to a large extent.

“We’re looking for master license and area developers for Scotland and Wales. We’re exploring relationships with investment groups who are looking to add a special coffee partner to their portfolio and we’re speaking with several large retailers about cobranding or adding Esquires to their schemes. We’re prepared to wait until we find partners that share our vision.”

Doug has to go. He apologises that he has a train to catch to explore some potential properties in the Norwich region.

And with that, Doug politely excuses himself and he’s off. I sit back, polish off the rest of my cheesecake and decide to flip open my laptop, plug it in and settle in for a few hours of bliss.