Trouble brewing in town flooded by coffee shops

A SPA town has been branded Britain’s “coffee capital” as high street chain Costa prepares to open its 11th outlet there.

That will bring to 19 the number of big name coffee shops in the centre of Cheltenham, which also has a plethora of independent cafes.

The high street already boasts four branches of SOHO Coffee Co, two Caffe Neros, a Boston Tea Party shop and a Starbucks.

Locals in the Gloucestershire town warn they have reached saturation point – with 72 per cent saying they do not want another branded shop.

Admin assistant Jane Fisher, 38, said: “This is getting ridiculous. I like drinking Costa but I already know where to go to get one.”

Retail supervisor Jack Dunham, 23, added: “I don’t really think we need another Costa.”

With more than 1,000 outlets, Costa Coffee is Britain’s largest coffee chain.

Its latest venture comes as high street closures outstripped openings for the seventh year in a row as online shopping continues to boom. Last year’s net fall of 896 from chains with at least five branches is more than double that of 2015, according to the Local Data Company.

Cheltenham councillor Garth Barnes said: “I don’t object to commercial enterprise or competition between businesses but Costa does seem to be over-egging it.

“We have a lot of well-used independent coffee shops with good ambience and I would hope that people would continue to support our home-grown businesses.”

Costa is the second largest coffee chain in the world behind Starbucks.

Founded by Italian brothers Bruno and Sergio Costa in 1971, the company argues that coffee shops are good for town centres.

Business consultants Allegra Strategies said coffee shops “are one of the main social hubs” of town centres and “safe places where people from all backgrounds congregate”.