Esquires Coffee shop opens its doors in Maidenhead High Street

The franchise co-owner of a new coffee shop in Maidenhead High Street said the brand’s ‘unique’ vegetarian options sets it apart from its competitors.

Esquires Coffee opened its doors at 70-72 High Street on Wednesday morning and saw around 100 people come in throughout the day.

The brand, which has a franchise-based model and has 70 stores across the UK including one in Windsor, serves up 100 per cent organic, fairtrade coffee, supplied by coffee roasting company Matthew Algie.

The Maidenhead store is independently owned by franchise partners Abhiraj Rajendrasinh, Virendra Manajibhai, Darshit Dineshkumar and Jagdishkumar Mansukhbha.

Ryan Ford, head of franchisee development at Esquires Coffee works in a team alongside colleagues Matthew Webb, Charlie Webb and Rory Bartlett to expand the brand into the southern regions of the UK.

Discussing why the brand decided to open a new store in Maidenhead, Ryan said: “Matt takes the lead in terms of looking into properties and footfall and things like that.

“His take away from it is that Maidenhead is quite a diverse and buzzy town. It’s really popular, the High Street is incredibly busy as well.”

The new store features a deli fridge with freshly-made sandwiches, bagels and melts.

The store also offers brunch with dishes such as eggs benedict, eggs royale, smashed avocado on toast and ultimate avocado on toast on the menu.

As well as coffee, customers can enjoy a range of drinks such as teas including loose-leaf tea, smoothies,n a protein shakes.

Abhiraj and his three partners, who have backgrounds working outside of the coffee industry, wanted to embark on a new adventure together.

Upon visiting an Esquires coffee shop in Aylesbury, Abhiraj, who is a vegetarian, said he was impressed by the variety on offer after trying the store’s halloumi and avocado offering.

Abhiraj said: “When I tasted it, I thought to myself this is unique compared to other shops, so that’s why we thought of acquiring a franchise.”

All Esquires stores feature community boards.

“We like to think of Esquires as a hub for people to meet, relax and have a pleasant

experience,” Ryan added.

Abhiraj said he was ‘very excited’ by the store’s opening and Ryan added that it had been ‘quite smooth’.

“[The feedback has] been really good so far, a lot of good feedback on the coffee,” Ryan added.

The store is open from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm on Saturdays and 8am to 4pm on Sundays.