Liverpool Costa Coffee franchisee Optimum Group, which operates almost 30 Costa outlets, reports rise in annual revenues just shy of £12m and a surge in pre-tax profits despite “challenging conditions”. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool Costa Coffee franchisee Optimum Group has defied inflationary pressures to report a rise in both revenues and pre-tax profits.
Based in Liverpool city centre, Optimum was founded in 2006 by Dave Connor who remains its owner and sole director. It operates more than 30 Costa Coffee franchises in the North West.
In 2016 he opened Kaspa’s Desserts outlets in Liverpool and St Helens. In 2022 Optimum also became the first Merseyside franchisee for the I am Döner kebab brand which was started in Yorkshire in 2016. Optimum also has a newsagents outlet.
However, despite the diversification of the group, almost 96% of its revenues are generated by the Costa Coffee shops. Optimum, which employs more than 180 people, has just filed its annual accounts for the 12 months to August 31, 2024.
They show an almost 15% rise in revenues to £11.9m. There was also a surge in pre-tax profits from under £23,000 last year to £646,135 in the latest accounts. The business paid out £65,000 in dividends to Dave.
Writing in the report, he said: “The year to August 31, 2024, has seen the group continue to grow despite challenging conditions relating to rising costs and inflation.
“The competitive nature of the coffee industry is increasing each year and has led us to actively source new sites for expanding our Costa franchises, using the popular brand name to our advantage.
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“We have continued to invest in new fixtures and fittings to keep all stores modern and up-to-date along with property purchases related to new Costa franchises.
“The continued investment has led to higher depreciation costs. The profit before depreciation is a strong indicator for how the business is operating with an increase from £965,000 in 2023 to £1.3m in 2024.”
Costa Coffee was founded by Sergio Costa in London in 1971.It was acquired by Whitbread in 1995 and was subsequently sold to Coca-Cola in 2019 for almost £3.8bn. It has more than 3,800 outlets worldwide and generates revenues of more than £1bn.