Starbucks UK to hire 7,500 as it adds 500 stores
The chain plans 500 new UK coffee shops by 2031, concentrated outside London, with 7,500 new jobs open to candidates with no prior industry experience.
Starbucks UK will hire 7,500 new staff over the next five years as it adds 500 coffee shops nationwide by 2031, under a licensee model announced in March. The hiring adds to an existing UK workforce of more than 18,000, and growth will concentrate in the Midlands, northern England, Wales and Scotland, extending the chain's footprint beyond London's commuter belt.
Darren King, vice-president and managing director of Starbucks UK, said the roles need no previous industry experience. "We're proud to be creating thousands of new jobs across the UK over the next five years," he said, adding that training and support start "from day one."
A reversal after a year of UK closures
We're proud to be creating thousands of new jobs across the UK.
The expansion marks a shift from last year, when Starbucks shut dozens of UK sites. Chief executive Brian Niccol, who joined in late 2024, launched a "Back to Starbucks" turnaround built on menu simplification, staffing investment and operational changes, a recovery effort that echoes the mixed picture in Starbucks and Chipotle's own recent earnings.
Niccol has said the business is now in growth mode and is weighing further expansion. Globally, Starbucks reported coffeehouse sales up 6.2% year on year for fiscal 2026 and net revenue up 2% to $37.9 billion, though those figures cover the whole company, not the UK alone.
Entry-level roles aimed at young workers
More than half of Starbucks' UK staff in company-run stores are under 24, and King said the company wants the new roles to open a path for more young people into hospitality work. The jobs will roll out gradually as new stores open through 2031, rather than arriving in one hiring wave.
The licensee model, under which partner operators run some of the new locations, lets Starbucks expand into smaller UK towns without carrying the full capital cost of each site itself, a structure increasingly common among coffee chains chasing growth outside major cities. It also arrives as British pubs and casual dining chains report their own wave of site closures, a contrast that leaves coffee as one of the few UK hospitality segments still opening net new doors.
