Costa Coffee to launch independent audit into franchise partners

23 August 2019 by
Costa Coffee to launch independent audit into franchise partners

Costa Coffee is launching an independent audit of its franchise partners following an investigation by the BBC News into alleged poor working conditions at franchised stores.

BBC News has reported claims this week outlining allegations of poor working conditions made by individuals working in franchised stores owned by Goldex Essex Investments and Bristal Investments.

Employees of Bristal Investments said they had been told to work outside of contracted hours and had not received tips. Goldex Essex staff claimed the company had refused to pay for sick or annual leave, with one former manager telling the BBC News that staff would be fined £150 if the store was opened late or deliveries missed with other financial penalties incurred if tills were found to be short or wastage deemed ‘excessive'.

A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: "Following several allegations relating to unethical behaviour, we are investigating these matters with those specific partners.

"Given the serious nature of the allegations, we have today informed all of our individual franchise partners that we will be launching an independent audit into the legal and ethical compliance of their operations, including employment matters.

"We take any allegations of this nature very seriously and would like to reassure team members and customers that we will not tolerate illegal and unethical behaviour in any circumstances under the Costa Coffee brand."

Kafeel Khan of Goldex Essex Investments told BBC News he found the claims "extremely upsetting" and invited staff to report any incidents, while Emilio Aleo of Bristal Investments said he "fully [complies] with [his] statutory obligations".

Hospitality company Whitbread sold the coffee chain, which operates more than 2,400 outlets in the UK, to the Coca-Cola Company for £3.9b earlier this year.

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media Group is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking