The Magic Bean Co: Brewing Success on the 2022 Wales Fast Growth 50 Index

Established in 2014, the Magic Bean Co is one of the fastest growing Starbucks franchises in the UK. Based in South Wales, it opened its first Starbucks site in Mansion Shand House Cardiff on St David’s Day 2014 and seen year on year company revenue growth since. More recently, it has gone on to become Starbuck’s only national growth partner covering England and Wales, developing its green electric vehicle Starbucks platform. The Magic Bean Company currently operate fourteen Drive Thru sites and ten Cafe sites from West Wales through to the West Midlands and Oxfordshire.

87% GROWTH BETWEEN 2019 AND 2021

Origins

The founder Leon Esfahani has a very successful proven track record operating food and beverage businesses. He has owned and operated Pizza Hut and Subway Franchises as well as a large O2 franchise, gaining national recognition and picking up multiple awards for Operational Excellence and best Customer Experience. He is passionate about running big brands and when Starbucks approached him in 2013 to run one of fifteen territories, he knew this would be an excellent brand to work with and develop to its full potential.

Success Factor

A solid organisational structure has been key to enabling the Magic Bean Co to grow in scale and with new site openings being the key to growth, significant resource and capability is needed in identifying the right opportunity and then having this translate into a new store. In addition, great teamwork and collaboration between different departments is where great ideas are born, there are times when its teams have needed to dig deep and deliver for the business, and this is done best when everyone pulls together. A good team ethos with people enjoying what they do, contributing and rising to tackle challenges head-on with a can-do mentality helps drive things forward. Finally, great leadership – there are times when very big decisions need to be made to take the business forward and whether it is the firm’s own people or external stakeholders, people must believe in the leader of the business, his vision and trust in his judgement.

The Future

The growth rate of the Magic Bean Co is accelerating exponentially, and its ambitious plans will see it operating up to 200 Starbucks sites across the UK within the next five years, creating up to 4,000 new posts in the process. It is working closely with several developers and EV partners, to not only build Starbucks stores, but to create an essential central hub for customers to enjoy a great coffee while they charge their car, making it the go-to destination.

In partnership with UBS, the world’s leading global wealth manager, this year, Fast Growth 50 will rank the companies based on turnover growth in eight nations and regions across the UK.