Sun 22nd Nov 2015 - Harris + Hoole reports losses doubled to £25.5m Harris + Hoole reports losses doubled to £25.5m: Coffee shop operator Harris & Hoole, owned by Tesco, has reported the majority of its shops have turned to profit now although its losses more than doubled to £25,573,368 for the 52 weeks to 1 March 2015 – it lost £12,799,795 the year before. The losses for the most recent year were also circa double turnover of £12,840,302 for the year, which was up from £6,648,270 the year before. Former Mitchells & Butlers chief executive Adam Fowle joined the board on 21 July this year. Of the year, the company stated: “The business opened 22 new shops and closed the six shops previously announced in September 2014, taking the total open at the end of the period to 45. In the second week of March, Harris + Hoole opened the first speciality coffee shop in a UK airport at Stansted, which has been exceeding expectations since it opened. The operating loss of £21.6m reflects significant impairment taken on a number of properties and other assets of £9.8m. As the business exited the year and (moved) into 2015-2016, the majority of shops have turned to profit after the early life-cycle of opening in the formative years of the business. Management focus on driving sales growth coupled with a tighter control on shop costs have driven this, as well as a marked decrease in the time from opening to profitability for the shops opened in the 53 weeks to 1 March 2015.” Tesco has pledged to provide a further £7.5m of funding to ensure the company meets its obligations – it has loaned the company £48m so far.