Costa Coffee appoints new Managing Director of UK and Ireland

Costa Coffee has announced the appointment of Neil Lake as the new Managing Director of Costa Coffee United Kingdom and Ireland (UK&I). Lake, who joined Costa Coffee in September 2018 as Retail and Operations Director, relocated from Australia where he worked as a Senior Executive for Coles Supermarket. “I am honoured to be taking on this role within the UK’s favourite coffee shop and look forward to working alongside the whole UK&I team, including our corporate and franchise partners, suppliers and 16,000 plus passionate team members out in our stores. Costa Coffee is a growing global business and I am excited for the opportunity to work to simplify, invest and grow the UK&I market, focusing on our customer experience, teams, partners and channel innovation,” Lake says. Read more:
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• Coca-Cola completes acquisition of Costa Coffee The appointment follows the resignation of Jason Cotta, who has worked for Costa Coffee for more than eight years, across its UK and global business. Cotta will take up a Chief Executive role and will finish at the end of June, with Lake starting his new role on 1st July. “Neil brings with him extensive strategic and operational experience at a global level, with a strong track record of driving sustainable results. Following our recent sale to The Coca Cola Company, this is an incredibly exciting time for Costa Coffee, especially within the UK&I where we are focused on unlocking a new phase of growth and further enhancing our customer experience. Neil is perfectly positioned to lead the UK&I team, leveraging his depth of retail experience and passion for Costa’s customers and team members,” Costa Coffee CEO Dominic Paul says. Costa Coffee operates more than 2600 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1300 in 32 overseas markets. There are also more than 8000 Costa Express self-serve machines in the UK.