Costa Coffee announces Dominic Paul will step down as CEO from 30 November to be succeeded by former Marks & Spencer clothing boss Jill McDonald from 2 December
Costa Coffee's new CEO, Jill McDonald
In a press statement, Costa praised Paul for leading the coffee chain through a strong growth phase following its
£3.9bn acquisition by US beverage giant Coca-Cola in 2018. He will remain with Costa as a ‘special adviser’ until February 2020 to support the transition.
“Dominic led a significant
reshaping of Costa’s international footprint, the expansion of the brand across multiple new platforms and a wide-ranging reset of the core UK business strategy,” said Jennifer Mann, president of Coca Cola’s Global Ventures Group (GVG), the parent of Costa.
McDonald was most recently the Managing Director of clothing and home for UK retailer Marks & Spencer. She also served as CEO of UK leisure retailer Halfords and Global Head of Marketing at British Airways. “I look forward to joining the Costa leadership team and building on the great foundation and growth potential in the business,” McDonald said.
McDonald joins Costa during period of ambitious global, cross-channel expansion as Coca-Cola seeks to leverage the coffee brand across retail,
vending and ready-to-drink (RTD) formats in 32 international markets.
World Coffee Portal
research shows Costa Coffee is Europe’s largest coffee chain with more than 3,150 outlets. It also holds nearly one third of the
UK’s £10.1bn coffee shop market with over 2,600 stores. In her new role, McDonald faces the challenge of growing Costa’s presence in new and established markets, where fierce competition, high property costs and the possibility of global economic slowdown loom large over the global coffee shop market.
Nevertheless, Costa Coffee is a formidable international competitor that has successfully scaled its multi-channel operations in diverse markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.