The UK coffee shop market grew by 10% in 2015 with total turnover reaching £7.9billion.

According to the latest report from Allegra World Coffee Portal: Project Café2016 UK, the branded coffee chain segment recorded £3.3billion turnover across 6,495 outlets, following impressive outlet growth of 12%, adding 714 stores during 2015 and delivering sales growth of 15%.

The report also shows that the UK is becoming a nation of coffee connoisseurs. Compared with last year, daily visits to coffee shops have increased and 16% of coffee shop visitors frequented a coffee shop at least once a day in 2015 compared with 14% in 2014.

With coffee widely available out of home, coffee shop visitors drink an estimated 2.2 billion cups of coffee per year in coffee shops. Coffee shops are playing an increasingly important role in the UK, enhancing the social vibrancy of a community as well as being a large contributor to employment and the economy.

Allegra predicts the total UK coffee shop market will comfortably exceed 30,000 outlets and £15billion turnover by 2025, driven by branded coffee chain expansion and non-specialist operator growth.

Jeffrey Young, MD of the Allegra Group, commented: “The strong market growth of the past 12 months has exceeded our own estimates. This provides further evidence of the growing importance of coffee shops to the British economy and more importantly their impact on the daily lives of everyday consumers. With a market now valued at £7.9billion, no-one can ignore the fact that coffee is big business.”