UK coffee chain Coffee Republic (UK) Limited has gone into administration alongside Coffee Republic Franchising and Goodbean Ltd, following the suspension of its shares yesterday.

Richard Hill and David Crawshaw of KPMG Restructuring have been appointed joint administrators of the coffee bar and deli chains.

The company’s shares were then temporarily suspended on Monday 6 July, after the board of Coffee Republic requested their suspension pending clarification of the financial position of certain subsidiaries, including Coffee Republic (UK). The holding company, Coffee Republic plc, is not in administration.

“Coffee Republic has a strong brand and I expect considerable interest in the profitable parts of the business. We will be doing whatever we can to find a buyer for the residual business as a going concern as quickly as possible, so interested parties will have to be prepared to move fast,” commented Hill.

Coffee Republic was founded in 1995 and currently employs 153 staff. It operates a total of 187 coffee bars in the UK and 10 international locations, including Ireland, Turkey and Romania. Twenty of these outlets are owned by Coffee Republic (UK) and 70 are franchised through Coffee Republic Franchising. A further 97 concessions operate within cinemas, retail outlets and hotels throughout the UK.

The administrators are currently assessing the outlets on a case-by-case basis, and are expecting inevitable job losses through the closure of loss-making stores.

Coffee Republic plc has seen year-on-year growth and signed its first franchising agreement in 2005. It also made a number of acquisitions, including the Goodbean chain.