Costa's Slater to be promoted as part of restructure

The new structure is expected to be formally announced in January and comes as Costa Coffee performs well on the high street.

In the six months to the end of September this year, pre-tax profits were up 15.2% to £174.9m at parent group Whitbread, which also owns the Premier Inn chain.

At Costa Coffee, underlying profits were up 41.8% to £27.8m in the period.

From next year, the business will be split into four divisions, each with individual managing directors and marketing directors.

Costa UK retail, which will account for around 60% of the overall business, will be headed up by managing director Adrian Johnson, previously chief operating officer at Costa Coffee, and its marketing director will be Kevin Hydes, currently head of marketing at Costa Coffee.

Costa Europe, Middle East and India will have as its managing director Andy Marshall, currently chief operating officer of Costa Coffee international. Its marketing director will be Mita Padhi, currently international marketing director at Costa Coffee.

The third division will be Costa Asia and its managing director will be Paul Smith, who currently runs the coffee outlet's operations in Asia. Its marketing director will be Anita Cox, currently regional marketing manager for Middle East and North Africa.

The fourth unit will be called Costa Enterprises, which will house its high-growth brands and new enterprises such as its Costa Express brand, and its managing director will be Jim Slater, currently marketing director of Costa Coffee UK.

It is thought the restructure will not involve redundancies.

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This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk