Cafes and Coffee Shops

The Cafes and Coffee Shops section on Catering Today explores the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the UK’s vibrant café and coffee sector. Covering independent operators, branded chains, and suppliers, it reports on store openings, menu innovation, sustainability initiatives, and shifts in consumer behaviour. With insights into operations, staffing, and technology, Catering Today provides hospitality professionals with up-to-date intelligence on the business strategies and market forces driving success in coffee-led hospitality.

Jul- 2018 -

6 July

Whitbread to cut 250 management jobs in restaurant business

Whitbread is set to cull 250 management roles from its restaurants business in a bid to make the company more “efficient and effective”. It is understood that the decision has not been prompted by the company’s decision to demerge from Costa, which was announced in April. The decision to make…
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4 July

UKHospitality warns against PPL music licence tariff increase

UKHospitality has cautioned that any increases to the UK music licencing body’s ‘SFE’ tariff will place considerable burdens on venues and limit their ability to offer recorded music. The organisation which provides businesses with licences to play recorded music, PPL, has begun formally consulting on a revised Specially Featured Entertainment…
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4 July

London bar reprimanded by ASA over ‘socially irresponsible’ advert

Savannah Cafe Bar in Haywards Heath has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following an advert for Offshore Pilsner beer which was considered “socially irresponsible”. The advert notified customers of a change in alcohol percentage on Offshore Pilsner beer which it said made it “more sessionable”. The ASA…
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3 July

Pret A Manger launches new apprenticeship scheme

Pret A Manger has announced the launch of a new apprenticeship programme, offering candidates the opportunity to complete a fully funded undergraduate degree in Business Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. The chain claims that within four years of starting the apprenticeships, the students could be running their own Pret shop…
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3 July

Personal information of job applicants leaked in Costa Coffee data breach

The parent company of Costa Coffee, Whitbread, has been the subject of a data breach which has seen personal information of job candidates exposed. A cyber attack was carried out on Whitbread’s recruitment agency, PageUp, potentially leaving data including home address, email address, telephone number, maiden name, date of birth,…
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Jun- 2018 -

27 June

Costa Coffee sales dip 2% in Q1

Coffee chain Costa has reported a fall in like-for-like sales at the start of the year, blaming a lack of shoppers on the high street. Although total UK sales grew by 5.2% due to new store openings, according to Costa owner Whitbread, the UK’s biggest coffee chain revealed a 2%…
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25 June

UKHospitality ‘wary’ as UK plans listing calories on restaurant menus

Jeremy Hunt has announced that the government is considering forcing restaurants to publish calorie information on their menus. During the announcement Hunt said that the government would consider exemplifying smaller businesses from the changes, however he said “all the big chains that we go to, they must give people that…
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20 June

EXCLUSIVE: Starbucks says ‘no UK store closures’ after US announcement

Starbucks’ recent US store closures announcement “does not affect” its UK stores”, Catering Today has learned. The clarification comes days after the US business said it would increase its US store closure rate up to 150 amid weak sales forecasts that predicted and a falling share price. Historically the company…
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19 June

Eat avoids CVA following sales boost

Sandwich chain Eat has avoided having to draft in advisors as recent closures and an increase in sales have put the company back on track, Catering Today understands. In February, the chain was reported to have appointed advisors KPMG to help it with its restructuring plan which included the closure…
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19 June

Starbucks’ first UK franchise partner 23.5 Degrees opens 50th store

Starbucks’ first franchised UK business partner, 23.5 Degrees, will open its 50th store on 20 June in Hull. The business opened its first Starbucks store in Liphook, Hampshire in February 2013. The 50th opening is part of an ambitious expansion programme for UK firm, with plans to expand further over…
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