“A relentless appetite for innovation” – Alex Rayner on 25 years of Starbucks in the UK

In an exclusive World Coffee Portal interview marking 25 years of Starbucks in the UK –and its first store in the MENA region – Alex Rayner, Vice President and General Manager UK, Switzerland and Austria at Starbucks, discusses the Seattle-based coffee chain’s contribution to British coffee culture and how the business continues to deliver innovation for the UK’s ever-curious coffee consumers

The UK’s first Starbucks store opened its doors on London’s King’s Road 25 years ago this month. Since then, the coffee chain has expanded to more than 1,100 UK locations and hugely influenced the course of British coffee culture – including being the first major UK coffee chain to introduce drive-thru and cold brew.
 
A quarter of a century later, Starbucks continues to make waves in the UK market and in September 2023 opened its 20,000th store outside of North America in Oldham, Manchester.