Irish oil company Maxol has announced it will invest £1m with Ground Espresso Bars, Northern Ireland’s largest independently-owned scaled artisan coffee chain, in a new commercial partnership.
The first of the new stores will open towards the end of this month in Maxol’s flagship site on the A26 at Tannaghmore, Co Antrim County, with an investment of over £200,000 and creating 10 new jobs.
The new Tannaghmore store is the 24th for the coffee chain. It will feature custom-made espresso machines from Synesso in Seattle, and the new 48-seater store will provide high-speed Wi-Fi, desktop charging points, large community tables and a new indoor and outdoor kids’ play area, which is a first for Ground.
Brian Donaldson, chief executive of Maxol, said: “We are delighted to be announcing this new partnership with Ground Espresso Bars. As a family owned and operated business with a passion for quality and innovation, we have much in common with our new partners and we look forward to developing several projects with Ground over the next three years.
“We want our customers to have plenty of choice within our sites and by introducing Ground into our estate that is exactly what we are providing. Along with our existing food offerings that include our own Maxol deli, we are working hard to provide our customers with a fabulous new offer within a modern and welcoming environment.”
Karen Gardiner, director, Ground Espresso Bars, added: “We are really looking forward to opening this new store with Maxol and expanding our store network. The partnership represents a significant investment by both companies and we look forward to seeing this develop further over the coming years.”
