Whitbread gets Costa lift

The Whitbread-owned coffee chain, which has 1,295 stores in the UK and 1,986 worldwide, saw like-for-like sales growth of 6.6 per cent in the 24 weeks to August 18 and a 25 per cent lift in sales including new store openings.

The surge in total sales is due to the chain’s aggressive expansion plans, which have seen 145 new stores open in the first half and another 155 planned for the rest of the financial year.

Elsewhere in the Whitbread business, the group reported 5% like-for-like sales growth at its chain of budget hotels Premier Inn, while its restaurants division, which includes Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, saw sales dip 1.6 per cent.