Ground Espresso Bar
Ground Espresso Bars is a family-owned specialty coffee chain operating 30+ retail stores across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland, serving general consumers and families with espresso drinks, food, and a community-focused in-store experience.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersBallymoney, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Ground Espresso Bar does
Ground Espresso Bars monetises primarily through one-time retail transactions at point-of-sale across its owned store network, with ancillary contribution from merchandise sales via the Ground Shop and a Click and Collect service that funnels online orders to physical pickup points. Pricing is not publicly disclosed at SKU level, but the company operates a loyalty programme that supports repeat custom. The go-to-market model is direct-to-consumer physical retail, supported by social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Pinterest), website content, and earned media through charity partnerships including the Honduras Project and Autism NI. Customer segmentation is broad-based across general consumers and families; no enterprise, B2B, or wholesale channel is disclosed, making the business heavily dependent on footfall and discretionary consumer spend. Key risks visible in the data are geographic concentration in Northern Ireland, exposure to high-street retail cycles, and absence of disclosed financial scale.
Ground Espresso Bar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ground Espresso Bar
- Legal name
- Ground Espresso Bars Ltd
- Website
- https://groundcoffee.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Ground Espresso Bars is a family-owned specialty coffee chain operating 30+ retail stores across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland, serving general consumers and families with espresso drinks, food, and a community-focused in-store experience.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ground Espresso Bar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Coffee Retail
- NAICS
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Espresso Bars & Coffee Bars (THAFADAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cafe-Bakeries (Coffee + Pastry Focus) (THAFADAG)
Keywords
Where Ground Espresso Bar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ballymoney
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices30 records
Markets served
Ground Espresso Bar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Retail Coffee and Food Sales: Ground Espresso Bars generates revenue through the sale of coffee and food products at its retail locations across Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The company operates multiple outlets in high street locations, retail parks, and shopping centres.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Ground Espresso Bar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ground Espresso Bar is a family-owned coffee shop chain selling espresso-based drinks and food across more than 30 physical store locations in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland. The company supplements in-store service with a Click and Collect online ordering programme and a Loyalty Card scheme for repeat customers. Operations are anchored by a head office in Ballymoney and supported by community-focused CSR initiatives.
Product overview
Ground Espresso Bar is a family-owned coffee shop chain offering a unified retail experience centered on quality coffee and food service. The core product is their espresso bar offering across 30+ physical store locations throughout Northern Ireland, supplemented by a Click and Collect service for online ordering and a Loyalty Card program for customer retention. The company also operates retail merchandise through their shop.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Ground Espresso Bars (Coffee and Food Retail) Retail coffee and food service across 30+ family-owned coffee shop locations in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland, offering espresso drinks, food items, and a welcoming community atmosphere for general consumers and families.
- Click and Collect Service Online ordering service allowing customers to select items and collect them from a designated Ground Espresso Bar store on Fridays between 12pm and 4pm, with orders closing at midnight on Tuesday for the following Friday's collection.
- Loyalty Cards
Companies that use Ground Espresso Bar
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Ground Espresso Bar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Ground Espresso Bar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Autism NIcoreGround Espresso Bars pledged to raise £15,000 to support local autism services during World Autism Acceptance Month by donating 10p from every coffee sold throughout April to Autism NI. This is described as the start of a great partnership with plans for ongoing fundraising activities including quiz nights and spin-a-thons in-store throughout the year.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ground Espresso Bar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Insomnia Coffee: Ireland-based coffee chain with stores across ROI and selected UK locations. Closely comparable on coffee-led casual café format, Republic of Ireland footprint (relevant given Ground's Blanchardstown store), and mid-market positioning.
- Caffè Nero: UK coffee chain with extensive high-street and shopping-centre store presence comparable to Ground's format mix. Both target the mid-market coffee shopper with espresso-led menus and complementary food offerings in similar real estate (retail parks, shopping centres).
- Esquires Coffee: UK and Ireland coffee franchise chain operating company-owned and franchised espresso bars. Comparable unit economics, training-led operations model, and store formats in retail parks and towns similar to Ground's footprint.
- Bob & Berts: Northern Ireland-originated coffee chain with multiple outlets across NI and Ireland. Most directly comparable domestic competitor — similar regional DNA, family/community positioning, espresso-led menu and Northern Irish high-street/site selection strategy.
- Gail's Bakery: UK artisan bakery-café chain combining speciality coffee with a strong pastry/food programme. Highly comparable to a coffee-plus-food concept at scale in the UK market, with a regional store rollout philosophy.
Broad incumbents
- McCafé (McDonald's UK): The coffee programme of McDonald's UK provides low-priced competition across the same retail-park and shopping-centre locations where Ground operates. A relevant indirect competitor on convenience and price-driven coffee occasions.
- Costa Coffee: The UK's largest dedicated coffee chain with hundreds of stores across Northern Ireland, England and Scotland. Directly comparable in product (espresso-based drinks, food) and target customer (UK coffee consumers), but at vastly greater scale and with full digital/loyalty infrastructure.
- Starbucks: Global coffee chain with substantial UK/NI presence. Competes directly for the same coffee-drinking occasions with a global loyalty app and stronger digital infrastructure; serves as the benchmark competitor in every UK region Ground enters.
- Tim Hortons UK: Canadian coffee and bakery chain expanding across the UK and Ireland. Comparable in product (coffee + baked goods) and competitive overlap in retail parks and roadside locations; broader brand and capital base than Ground.
- Pret a Manger: UK café chain offering coffee, food and grab-and-go items. Overlaps with Ground's espresso-and-food proposition but skews more toward urban commuter locations and premium pricing.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ground Espresso Bar social profiles
Digital presenceGround Espresso Bar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ground Espresso Bar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Ground Espresso Bar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ground Espresso Bar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ground Espresso Bar
What does Ground Espresso Bar do?
Ground Espresso Bar is a family-owned coffee shop chain selling espresso-based drinks and food across more than 30 physical store locations in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland. The company supplements in-store service with a Click and Collect online ordering programme and a Loyalty Card scheme for repeat customers. Operations are anchored by a head office in Ballymoney and supported by community-focused CSR initiatives.
Is Ground Espresso Bar a public or private company?
Ground Espresso Bar is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Ground Espresso Bar founded?
Ground Espresso Bar was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Ground Espresso Bar based?
Ground Espresso Bar is headquartered in Ballymoney, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Ground Espresso Bar make money?
One revenue line is on record: retail Coffee and Food Sales.
Who are Ground Espresso Bar's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Insomnia Coffee, Caffè Nero, Esquires Coffee, Bob & Berts and Gail's Bakery. Broad incumbents are McCafé (McDonald's UK), Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Tim Hortons UK and Pret a Manger.
Does Ground Espresso Bar have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ground Espresso Bar.
What industry is Ground Espresso Bar in?
Ground Espresso Bar's product category is Specialty Coffee Retail. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFADAD, Espresso Bars & Coffee Bars, with a secondary code of THAFADAG, Cafe-Bakeries (Coffee + Pastry Focus). Its NAICS code is 722515 and its SIC code is 5810.