Esquires Score Perfect 10 in Ireland

November 20^th 2008--Esquires Coffee Houses, one of North America's leading coffee franchises has just opened its newest coffee shop in Ireland in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.

Employing 20 people locally, Esquires Carrick on Shannon is the tenth coffee house in the Esquires Irish success story and follows hot on the heels of Esquires Kilkenny opening in September 2008.

Founded in Canada in the 1990s, Esquires Coffee Houses has grown into an international franchise business, with a presence in Ireland, the UK, North America and New Zealand. 

The Carrick on Shannon opening now brings the number of Esquires locations in Ireland to ten with units in Belfast, Carlow, Kilkenny, Gorey, Maynooth, Lisburn, Limerick, Newtownards and Wexford. Esquires are presently working on a number of outlets in Dublin, Cork, Naas which will be up and running in 2009.

Taking Canada's "suburban coffee house" concept to the high street, Esquires Coffee Houses has built a loyal customer base in Ireland since they first moved into the Irish market in 2001.

Managing Director Tony McVerry attributes a major part of the success to having fully committed franchisees and staff on board.

"The Esquires Coffee Houses franchise is built on the principle of delivering an extremely high level of service. We combine the very best in coffee shops with great food - and it works."

One of the key decisions that Esquires took as a group in 2007 was to stock exclusively Fairtrade tea, coffee and hot chocolate and this policy decision is paying dividends already.

"It is both a positive business decision that gives long term sustainability to people who have no other industries to fall back on and a commitment we have made to the people we work with both at home and abroad," commented Tony McVerry

McVerry reports that in some of their stores they have achieved a 10-15% increase on sales of hot beverages in the 12 month period since they announced their decision and says Esquires customers are very supportive of their efforts to increase the level of Fairtrade sales in Ireland.

Esquires Coffee Houses franchise will be seeking 20 more new sites across the UK and Ireland in 2009 as part of an ongoing expansion programme.

<< for more information click here