According to sources who spoke with the newspaper, the company asked the American investment bank Holyhan Loki to check whether there are parties interested in acquiring Starbucks operations in the UK. However, at the moment this is not the beginning of an actual sales process, but only an “assessment of strategic options”.
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According to the report, Starbucks is facing increasing competition in the world in general and in the UK in particular, where it competes with local chains Pret-A-Manger and Costa, alongside Canadian Tim Hortons. Therefore, it is interested in transferring the responsibility to its more than 1,000 branches and about 4,000 employees in the country to a local entity that will operate a franchise signal. This is probably the start of a similar move in other countries in which the company operates.