Starbucks UK plummets to £41m loss after year of Covid restrictions
Starbucks has recorded a loss of £41m in the year to September 2020, after Covid restrictions forced it to shut branches and limit typical trading activity.
The coffee chain saw revenues fall to £243m, according to a Companies House report, down 32.7 per cent, largely due to heavy restrictions imposed on the business throughout much of the year.
Despite the issues posed by the pandemic, Starbucks continued to pay its staff in full, and did not take any government furlough money for its non-franchised stores, which account for around 30 per cent of all UK sites.
The business made no redundancies throughout the period and has subsequently hired 400 new staff.
Starbucks recovered slightly last summer, as restrictions were eased, however the coffee shop continued to trade below the previous year’s rates, at 34 pr cent in the summer, rising to 56 per cent of 2019’s trade by September.
The company said: “Starbucks is continuing to assess and respond to government mandated rules on social distancing and operational practising, navigating local and national lockdown rules in the UK and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
“The region continues to be supported by Starbucks Corporation, given the strategic importance of the UK market to trial new initiatives in coffee, food service and point of sale.
“The business expects a continued shift of consumer behaviour which will drive further evolution of its stores, locations and offerings in the future.”