Press release -
Jason Cotta Appointed Costa New UK MD
Costa, the nation’s favourite coffee shop, today announces the appointment of Jason Cotta as Managing Director, Costa UK & Ireland.
Jason has extensive retail experience having worked as Operations Director, International and Development for Travelodge and Operations Project Director for Care UK. He was also Operations Manager for TGI Fridays.
Since joining Costa in 2010, Jason spent two years as Operations Director for Costa UK Equity stores and two years as Managing Director for Costa Retail from 2013. In 2015 he took responsibility for the Costa EMEA business, with accountability for Costa businesses in Poland and Latvia, France and Singapore as well as Costa’s International Franchise operations.
Commenting on the appointment Christopher Rogers, CEO of Costa says: “In his new role Jason will be looking to capitalise on UK opportunities for growth, building the brand and delivering for our customers. Jason has delivered outstanding results in his previous roles at Costa and brings with him a wealth of relevant experience to support the UK business at this important stage in its development”.
In his new role Jason will have overall responsibility for The UK and Ireland. The role has an extended remit that also covers Corporate Franchise, Proud to Serve and Ireland, in addition to the existing UK retail estate of equity and Individual Franchise operations.
The appointment takes place with immediate effect.
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Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, our quality coffee was the premium choice for boutique hotels and restaurants across the city. Today we continue to roast the original Mocha Italia recipe in Old Paradise Street, London with our 100% Rainforest Alliance certified coffee remaining at the core of our quality coffee credentials.
With over 2,000 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1,240 in 31 overseas markets, we are the fastest growing coffee shop business in the UK. We’re proud to be the UK’s favourite coffee shop, having been awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies for six years running (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & December 2015).
Our people are the heart of our business and we employ over 30,000 people worldwide, with a target of 5,000 new jobs in the UK by 2020. Last year, we increased Barista pay by c.10%. Our Pay for progression model was introduced in October 2015, and our training rate of £7.20 was launched well ahead of National Living Wage.
As a popular, mainstream food and beverage brand, we can make a positive contribution towards customer health and wellbeing by investing in safe sourcing, new product development and consumer education. Health and wellbeing remains a strategic business focus area and we will continue to evolve our product offer over the coming years. We are working to reduce added sugar in our drinks by 25% by 2020 and will reduce salt in our sandwich range by a further 5% by 2017.
We care about the communities we operate in with our store teams volunteering over 10,000 hours of their time to lend support to over 900 local community projects.
Looking after coffee growers is extremely important to us, which is why we established The Costa Foundation, a registered charity with the aim to relieve poverty, advance education and the health and environment of coffee-growing communities around the world. So far, The Costa Foundation has funded the building of 53 schools and improved the social and economic welfare of coffee-growing communities.
