Manchester-based Sim Trava operates dozens of licensed Costa stores across the North of England, with the appointment of its first CEO coming 12 months after it grew its estate by a third
Costa Coffee franchisee Sim Trava has appointed its first CEO as it gears up for further UK expansion.
Founded by Simon and Tracy Vardy in 2004, Manchester-based Sim Trava opened its first licensed Costa outlet in the market town of Northwich in October 2005.
Costa is Sim Trava’s sole franchise business, with the group currently operating 80 UK outlets, primarily across the North of England.
In June 2022, Sim Trava acquired 17 coffee shops from Costa – the first time the UK coffee chain had sold existing stores directly to a franchise partner – in a deal facilitated by a £7.1m ($9.4m) funding package from HSBC.
The appointment of former HSBC Franchise Director Marc Talbot as its first CEO comes a year after Sim Trava bolstered its Costa network with the acquisition of a further 21 stores – this time from QFM Group.
Sim Trava is Costa’s second-largest UK franchise partner, after Essex-based Scoffs Group, which has over 110 stores. Most of Sim Trava’s Costa outlets are high street and shopping centre venues.
Franchised expansion forms an important part of Costa’s UK growth strategy, with approximately 44% of its 2,700-store portfolio in the market operated by franchise partners.
In April 2025, Costa expanded its partnership with real estate advisor Savills to open new high street and shopping centre locations – a move which helped it bounce back from two successive years of stalled outlet growth last year.
Alongside traditional high street and mall outlets, Costa is also investing heavily in drive-thru. In March 2026, the coffee chain opened its 400th UK drive-thru site at the Norwich Broadway Enterprise Park in Norfolk.
The store format is a key pillar of Costa’s expansion push, with a further 40 sites set to be added by the end of 2026. Sim Trava currently operates half a dozen drive-thru sites across Blackpool, Chorley and Preston.
