Coffee Republic has announced the appointment of Peter Morris as its new chief executive, replacing the company's co-founder Bobby Hashemi. Morris, managing director of Walt Disney UK, part of Walt Disney Co, will take over the daily running of the company from 2 April. Hashemi told Reuters that Morris' retailing and brand development experience would allow Coffee Republic to significantly expand its presence in the UK over the next three years: The next stage of development will mainly focus on expanding the Coffee Republic brand throughout the UK and growing it from the current 80 bars to about 200. That's about 40 a year. Coffee Republic is the UK's largest independent espresso bar brand in the UK and currently boasts over 80 bars. Turnover doubled to £9.7m in the six months to September 2000, while sales rose 15 per cent. During the same period the company posted a first-half pre-tax loss of £1.3m.