Neil Lake, who joined Costa Coffee in September 2018 as Retail and Operations Director, will replace Jason Cotta as Managing Director, UK & Ireland
Costa Coffee's new Managing Director for UK & Ireland, Neil Lake, was formerly a Senior Executive for Coles Supermarket in Australia
Costa Coffee has appointed Neil Lake as Managing Director of Costa Coffee UK & Ireland. The announcement comes after former Managing Director, Jason Cotta, resigned after more than eight years in the role to take up an as yet unnamed Chief Executive role on 1 July.
Lake, who joined Costa Coffee in September 2018 as Retail and Operations Director, relocated from Australia where he most recently worked as a Senior Executive for Coles Supermarket, with a career spanning retail operations, store development, merchandise and general management.
Commenting on the announcement, Dominic Paul, CEO of Costa Coffee, said: “I am delighted to have appointed Neil to the role of Manging Director, UK&I. Neil brings with him extensive strategic and operational experience at a global level, with a strong track record of driving sustainable results.
"Following our recent sale to The Coca Cola Company, this is an incredibly exciting time for Costa Coffee, especially within the UK and Ireland, where we are focused on unlocking a new phase of growth and further enhancing our customer experience. Neil is perfectly positioned to lead the UK&I team, leveraging his depth of retail experience and passion for Costa’s customers and team members.”
Commenting on his appointment, Neil Lake, said: “I am honoured to be taking on this role within the UK’s Favourite Coffee Shop and look forward to working alongside the whole UK and Ireland team, including our corporate and franchise partners, suppliers and 16,000-plus passionate team members out in our stores. Costa Coffee is a growing global business and I am excited for the opportunity to work to simplify, invest and grow the UK&I market, focusing on our customer experience, teams, partners and channel innovation.”
The appointment comes as the UK’s largest coffee chain embarks on a new era of global development following its 3.9bn acquisition by Coca-Cola,
which was approved by the EU and China in late 2018. Details of how the deal will manifest remain unclear, but it is widely anticipated that Coca-Cola will seek to develop Costa’s extensive self-service machine network and launch branded RTD products for retail.
Costa Coffee currently operates over 2,600 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1,300 shops in 32 markets globally. There are also now more than 8,000 Costa Express self-serve machines in the UK.