Costa Coffee to reopen all UK drive-thrus by next week

The Coca-Cola owned coffee shop business says it has reopened a further 75 drive-thrus yesterday (21 May), and will reopen a further 58 next Thursday (28 May).

As well as takeaway, delivery will be available at all locations via UberEats. 

Having closed its entire UK estate back in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Costa begun a phased reopening of its sites last month with a focus on drive-thrus and takeaway only locations. 

This process has allowed the business to trial social distancing in its stores, implement enhanced hygiene procedures, and adapt operations to keep both staff and customers safe.

Teams have been provided with PPE, and all sites will for the time being only accept contactless payment.

In an update to customers yesterday, Costa Coffee CEO Jill McDonald said: “All of us here at Costa Coffee hope you and your family and friends are well and looking forward to another long-weekend.

“Over the past four weeks, in line with Government guidelines, we are pleased to have successfully reopened over 70 Costa Coffee stores.

“To keep our store teams and customers safe, we’ve made a lot of changes to how we serve our coffee, introducing social distancing and enhancing our hygiene procedures.

“Customers are telling us that they feel safe when visiting and are delighted that we’re open.

“Our store teams have responded well to our new ways of working, which has given us confidence that we can re-open more stores."

In the last several weeks, Costa has also been delivering ready-to-drink Costa Coffee cans to key workers in hospitals, police and fire stations, as well as NHS call centres.