(AOF) – Several newspapers like the Times had reported that Starbucks was exploring a potential sale of its activities in the United Kingdom. The group reacted to the subject stating that it was not engaged in “a formal sales process”. The cafe and restaurant chain oversees around 1,000 stores in the UK (70% franchised and the rest company owned) and employs around 4,000 people.
Like its competitors, Starbucks has been strongly impacted by the closures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and must now deal with telework which has changed consumer habits.
“Starbucks faces rising operating costs as competition intensifies with take-out chains and restaurants focusing on coffee as a secondary, discounted offering,” a statement said. of the group.
The UK branch returned to profit in the financial year ending October 2021, generating a pre-tax profit of £13.3m on revenue of £328m, after posting a loss from £40.9 million the previous year.
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Out of the crisis for the cruise
The recovery is tangible in Europe. MSC Cruises, the leading European company, resumed operation of its entire fleet in June, i.e. 19 cruise ships – including 14 in the Mediterranean. Similarly, the Costa group, a subsidiary of the American cruise giant Carnival, should operate all of its liners (24 in number) by the end of the year. On the other hand, China remains on the sidelines of the general movement, due to its extremely restrictive health policy. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) expects the industry to return to its 2019 record traffic of a total of 32 million cruise passengers by the end of 2023.