'We're excited about the opportunities ahead': Northern Ireland coffee shop sees profits rise to £1.3m following business transformation
Bob & Bert reports record revenues of £24.3m and 73% growth in underlying trading earnings following investment in technology, menu innovation and customer experience
Independent Northern Ireland coffee shop group Bob & Berts has reported a significant increase in profitability following a period of investment in its operations, technology and customer offering.
Founded in Portstewart in 2013, Bob & Berts now operates coffee shops across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England and is now looking ahead to its next phase of growth, with plans to further expand its presence across the UK.
Unaudited management accounts for the financial year ended June 30 2026 show revenues increasing by 8.3% to £24.3m, with pre-tax profits rising to £1.32m, compared with £21,000 in the previous year.
Operating profit also increased from £213,000 to approximately £1.45m, while trading EBITDA, a measure of underlying business performance, grew by almost 73% to £2.76m.
The improved results follow a deliberate decision by the business to pause its store opening programme during the financial year ended June 2025, to allow it to focus on strengthening its existing stores and investing in the systems, technology and customer offering needed to support future growth.
The Group's statutory accounts for the year ended June 30 2025, show revenues of £22.5m and trading EBITDA of £1.59m. While sales continued to grow during that period, the business prioritised investment and operational improvements over further expansion.
David Ferguson, co-owner of Bob & Berts, said: “FY25 was an important year for us. We made a conscious decision to pause opening new stores and concentrate on improving the performance of the business we already had.
“A big part of that was investing in technology and changing how we operate. We've introduced new digital ordering options, improved our systems and made changes that allow our teams to spend more time looking after customers.
“We're now seeing the benefits of those decisions. Sales have continued to grow, but what's particularly pleasing is the improvement in profitability. We've increased our underlying trading earnings by almost 73% in the space of a year, which shows just how much progress the business has made.
“We've now got a much stronger platform to build on and we're excited about the opportunities ahead.”
Portstewart’s Colin McClean, founder of Bob & Berts, added: “While we've been making changes behind the scenes, we've also been working hard on the things our customers see every day.
“We've continued to develop our food and drink offering, bringing in new products, refreshing our menus and making sure we're giving customers plenty of reasons to keep coming back.
“Our loyalty programme has also been an important part of that. It's helping us build stronger relationships with our customers, understand what they enjoy and make their experience even better.
“We've always believed that good food, great coffee and a friendly atmosphere are what make Bob & Berts special. That hasn't changed, but we're constantly looking at how we can improve and bring something new to our customers.”