Costa Coffee has appointed Jill McDonald as its new Chief Executive. She replaces Dominic Paul, who is stepping down at the end of this month having led the business through a period of strong growth and its £3.9bn sale to Coca-Cola in 2018.
McDonald abruptly left her post as Managing Director of clothing and home at Marks & Spencer last year after failing to make any significant progress in reversing the company’s prolonged period of sales decline. Prior to that role, she served as CEO of Halfords for two years having been the UK boss of fast food chain McDonald’s.
Jennifer Mann, president of Global Ventures for The Coca-Cola Company, commented: “Her track record, depth of international experience and excitement about joining our business makes her an ideal leader to build on the great work of Dominic and the rest of the Costa team.”
McDonald added: “I have long been a fan of Costa and have watched the company grow in the UK and far beyond. I look forward to joining the Costa leadership team and building on the great foundation and growth potential in the business.”
Paul will remain with Costa until February 2020 to support the transition.
Since the acquiring the coffee business, Coca-Cola has revealed plans to introduce Costa products into markets around the world. New ready-to-drink (RTD) canned Costa products have already started rolling out as the soft drinks giant pushes to tap into the growing coffee market.
