Welcome Break and Starbucks sign coffee shop deal

Motorway service area operator Welcome Break and Starbucks Coffee Company have completed a licensed deal to open 29 coffee shops at Welcome Break motorway service stations over a 16 month period. The first two are set to open at Oxford Services (M40) and Hopwood Park (M42) before Easter this year. Welcome Break Chief Executive Rod McKie said: "We are pleased to be adding an additional leading world brand to offer the travelling public at our motorway service areas. "This will complement the expansion of the Waitrose estate within Welcome Break and is part of a significant investment by the company. "The addition of Starbucks will enable us to further satisfy the requirements of our 80 million visitors annually. "We are looking forward to opening the 29 Starbucks and are confident that there is potential to open many more. "Our service areas already feature a number of leading brands, including KFC, Burger King, Waitrose WH Smith and Days Inn. "In August 2010 Welcome Break will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first site at Newport Pagnell on the M1 and we are confident of a bright future ahead." Starbucks UK Managing Director Darcy Willson–Rymer said: "Being alongside some of the best quality brands in the UK makes this deal a perfect fit for us and is part of our drive to offer the best quality coffee wherever our customers are. "Customers' expectations are rising and they want their coffee shops to be as good on the go as they are at home. We'll meet those expectations by setting a new standard for coffee on the UK's motorways." The Starbucks outlets will open on the site of Welcome Break's existing Coffee Primo units. Welcome Break currently operates 24 sites across the UK and has an annual footfall of 80 million.