A KBeverage-operated Starbucks store in Lowestoft, Suffolk | Photo credit: KBeverage

UK-based KBeverage has ‘taken a big step’ towards operating 100 Starbucks stores by 2026 after acquiring fellow franchisee GK Coffee Group for an undisclosed sum. 
 

Norwich-based KBeverage used a seven-figure funding package from HSBC UK to purchase GK Coffee Group and its nine London Starbucks stores. KBeverage now operates 44 Starbucks outlets across the UK capital and the East of England. 

“Our expansion into London with nine new stores has been an important milestone in our growth plan. By broadening our reach beyond the East of England, we’ve tapped into a sizable customer base and taken a big step towards our goal of owning 100 stores by 2026,” said Alok Yadav, Director, KBeverage Ltd. 

KBeverage is among several UK-based Starbucks franchisees embarking on outlet growth after the Seattle-based coffee chain pledged £30m ($36m) to open 100 new UK stores by March 2024. Starbucks currently operates more than 1,150 UK outlets, approximately 75% of which are licensed. 

Swansea-based The Magic Bean Co. also received HSBC funding which it said would fuel its growth from 24 franchised Starbucks sites to 200 by 2027. 

Hampshire-based Cobra Coffee operates 68 Starbucks stores across the country and has ‘ambitious growth plans’ to scale across the south and southwest of the UK over the next three years. 

Meanwhile, Starbucks’ largest UK franchisee, 23.5 Degrees, opened its 100th Starbucks outlet in June 2023 and is seeking to reach 300 stores by 2027. 

The UK is Starbucks’ largest European market by outlets, ahead of Turkey and France, which have 640 and 220 Starbucks stores respectively.