Millie's Cookies is a chain of retail

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish ...

based in the United Kingdom, specializing in

cookies A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts ...

muffins A muffin is an individually portioned baked product, however the term can refer to one of two distinct items: a part-raised flatbread (like a crumpet) that is baked and then cooked on a griddle (typically unsweetened), or an (often sweetened) ...

, hot drinks and gifts. It was named after its founder Mario Budwig's grandmother Mildred. The company has stores in the United Kingdom, India, France, Germany, Egypt, Malta, Hong Kong. The company has 14 stores in the United Kingdom.

History

The first Millie's Cookie was baked by Stephen Singer after the company was founded by Mario Budwig in the end of 1985. Later that year, the company launched its first store within

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

department store food hall on

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

, London. In 1987, Richard O'Sullivan joined the company as managing director and began to expand it outside London for the first time, with openings in Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham. During the following years, outlets were opened in most major

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s and airports in the United Kingdom, as well as in many shopping centres. Business grew steadily, and in June 1997, Millie's Cookies purchased Cookie Jar, a competitor with about thirty outlets. The newly bought stores were rebranded as Millie's Cookies. In June 2003 Millie's was purchased by

Select Service Partner SSP is a British multinational contract foodservice company, with headquarters in London, England. It operates more than 2,800 branded catering and retail units at over 180 airports and 300 railway stations across 35 countries as a concessionaire ...

(SSP), a division of

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including off ...

. In April 2006, Compass sold SSP to

EQT Partners EQT AB Group is a global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity, infrastructure, real estate, growth equity, and venture capital in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. , EQT's assets under management a ...

. By 2006, the chain grew to 121 outlets. By 2022, Millie's Cookies' empire had shrunk considerably in size and now only had 14 outlets in the UK, all in England as far north as Nottingham although its range was available for home delivery as far as mainland Europe. It also launched its stores in India with the first one in New Delhi followed by

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

Stores

Millie's currently operates most of its stores in England, mainly in shopping centres, and there are stores in

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

, France Métro-station

Opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

in Paris, Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport and

Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...

. In 2010, outlets opened in Cairo and Malta, the latter a few days after the launch of the Point shopping complex.Franchise Opportunities , 'Millie's Cookies' – freshly baked cookies delivered across the UK
/ref> Millie's Cookies UK union flag tin (8365246862)

Millie's Cookies UK union flag tin (8365246862)

References

External links

*
Millie's Cookies Malta web site
{{UK Food Bakeries of the United Kingdom Fast-food chains of the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 1985 Retail companies of the United Kingdom SSP Group 1985 establishments in England

History

Stores

References

Further reading

External links