Starbucks is planning to open 100 new cafes in the UK and invest £30 million into its operations as part of a larger investment programme across Europe.
The US coffee chain said it was aiming to complete a refurbishment of its store estate over the next three years costing approximately £30 million – which is expected to build on success in Drive Thru and digital channels.
It’s UK business dominates earnings from other European countries, and it revealed the investment while reporting that sales had recovered to pre-pandemic levels during its financial year to 22 October.
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Starbucks said total revenues were 37% up on the same period a year ago at £449.3m – though operating profits dropped by almost a third to £12.6m.
It explained that staff pay increases and other inflationary pressures were largely responsible and left profit before tax at £10.4m, compared to £13.3m 12 months previously.
Starbucks has a total of 1,066 stores in the UK, of which 318 are company-owned and 748 run by licensees.
“Innovation remains key to Starbucks ability to meet our customers’ changing needs and we’re investing in our digital channels and developing new store formats such as digitally forward smaller stores and Drive Thrus,” president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Duncan Moir said.
He added: “Whilst we are cautious about the macro-economic environment, we will continue to invest to grow the region this year.”
Its plans included 300 new stores across the EMEA region “to continue this growth momentum”, Moir commented.
Last year, Laxman Narasimhan was appointed Starbucks CEO following his announcement that he would be stepping down as CEO at Reckitt, the parent company of Durex, Dettol and Vanish.
