Costa coffee chief Chris Rogers to leave firm this summer

The boss of the successful Costa coffee chain is to leave the business this summer, parent company Whitbread said yesterday.

Costa Coffee. Picture: Jane Barlow

Chris Rogers has been with the company 11 years, joining as Whitbread’s finance director in 2005 and becoming managing director of Costa in 2012, where he has grown it from 2,500 stores to more than 3,200 today.

Rogers will be replaced by Dominic Paul, who joins from cruise ship chain Royal Caribbean International, where he has been senior vice president international since November 2013.

Paul, who takes up his new role on 6 June, joined the cruise chain in 2010 from airline bmi, where he was MD and chief operating officer.

Whitbread said that Rogers will step down from the Board following its next meeting on 20 April, but stay on with the company until 1 July.

Alison Brittain, group chief executive, said: “During his tenure Chris has played a key role in establishing the successful group we have today, and I would like to thank him for this and to wish him well in the future.”

She said his successor “brings a wealth of experience in the travel and leisure industry”.

Rogers commented: “I have loved being part of Whitbread and Costa during a period of enormous value creation and growth, and after 11 years I have decided that now is the right time for a change.”