Dirt Coffee, the low-cost coffee and matcha franchise founded by Triple Two Coffee’s David Hodgetts, is closing in on its first international master franchise agreement, trade title Propel reported this week. Hodgetts said he was confident of reaching 100 sites within four years, building on a UK franchise offer pitched well below the entry cost of most branded coffee chains.
Dirt Coffee is the flagship franchise brand of DMH Brands, the multi-brand group David Hodgetts built after selling Triple Two Coffee in 2023. Dirt Coffee’s own franchise page lists a starting investment of around £60,000, well under the £250,000 to £500,000 range it cites for larger coffee chains, with a royalty of £100 a week or 6% and a targeted return on investment of 18 to 24 months. DMH Brands raised close to eight figures in private investment in 2024 at a reported £100 million valuation, alongside sister brands Just Tea and Sip Coco.
A first master franchise deal nears completion
Propel reported that Dirt Coffee is close to signing its first international master franchise agreement, under which an overseas partner would take on development rights for a territory rather than opening single sites individually. Hodgetts said he was confident of reaching a 100-site target within four years. Propel’s report did not name the territory or the prospective master franchise partner, and Dirt Coffee has not published further detail on the deal.
A UK franchise offer built around lower overheads
Dirt Coffee franchises in three formats: a grab-and-go kiosk, a sit-in coffee and brunch shop, and a café bar. The brand’s own franchise page pitches its £60,000 starting investment against rival coffee franchises costing several times more, and says sites are chosen to keep rents and running costs down from the outset. A build time of six to eight weeks is quoted for a new site, faster than the fit-out period typically cited for larger branded coffee chains.
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A master franchise agreement is different from a standard single-unit franchise. It hands one partner the rights to develop and often sub-franchise an entire country or region, rather than operate one site directly, which is why site targets tied to this kind of deal are usually set several years out.
Part of a wider multi-brand push from DMH Brands
David Hodgetts founded Triple Two Coffee before selling the business in 2023, then set up DMH Brands to build a group of food and drink concepts around Dirt Coffee, tea brand Just Tea and hot chocolate brand Sip Coco. In 2024, DMH Brands raised close to eight figures in private funding within a few weeks, at a valuation reported at £100 million, with investors described as a mix of entrepreneurs, sportspeople and musicians. Hodgetts has previously said the group’s three-year aim is to list with a market capitalisation above £1 billion.
Dirt Coffee franchises in three formats: a grab-and-go kiosk, a sit-in coffee and brunch shop, and a café bar, a spread that puts it in direct competition with the best franchises in the UK in the coffee and QSR space.
UK sites open alongside the international push
Domestically, Dirt Coffee lists its first launch site in Hornsey, north London, opening in 2026, as it builds out its UK franchise network in parallel with the international master franchise talks. Neither the master franchise territory nor a completion date for that agreement had been confirmed at the time of writing.
