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Starbucks is recruiting 400 new employees in cities including Cardiff and Leeds as coffee chain bosses are expecting a busy summer period when lockdown restrictions ease on June 21.

Positions will be available across almost 200 sites including city-centre, suburban high street and drive-thru locations as it builds its workforce to deal with the bounceback of the economy.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out four key dates for the gradual relaxation of restrictions across the country, leading up to 21 June when it is hoped all legal limits will be lifted.

Starbucks has launched a hiring spree for 400 roles as the cafe chain has been buoyed by the easing of pandemic restrictions (PA).

‘Profit impacted dramatically’

Alex Rayner, general manager at Starbucks UK, said It said that around 98% of its estate is currently operational.

“It has been incredibly difficult to be a high-street retailer in the last year as the Covid-19 pandemic has placed operating restrictions on our business which have impacted our profitability dramatically,” he said.

“But our priority the entire time has been to keep our people employed, avoid making redundancies in our company-operated stores and be prepared to safely re-open as restrictions ease.

“That’s why I’m really pleased we are now in a position to rebuild our workforce by offering 400 jobs, as we are optimistic about the future of the business.”

No redundancies made

Jobs have been created at a wide variety of UK towns and cities including Aberdeen, Cardiff, Coventry, Winchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Dundee, Birmingham, Derby and Newcastle.

The company, which was founded in Seattle 50 years ago, said it did not make any redundancies or take furlough support after the pandemic struck its UK operations.

It added that new hiring plans will primarily fill “natural vacancies” from staff choosing to leave the business who were not replaced while it was strangled by virus curbs.

The chain expanded its drive-thru and delivery options to meet customer demand as dine-in options were restricted by public health policy – meaning more new roles will be added to drive-thru locations.

Additional reporting by PA.

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Starbucks creates 400 jobs across UK towns and cities as coffee giant awaits 'busy summer '

‘Profit impacted dramatically’

No redundancies made