Costa: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Costa Limited's person with significant control on the Companies House register is The Coca-Cola Company. It holds 75% or more of the company. In the year to December 2024 Costa Limited reported turnover of £1,232m.
- Registered name
- COSTA LIMITED
- Company number
- 01270695
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 28 July 1976
- Registered office area
- Hemel Hempstead
- Industry code on the register
- 10832: Manufacture of food products
- Accounts
- Single company accounts, this company only
- Accounts type
- Full accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2024, filed 30 December 2025
What does Costa do?
Costa is a coffee chain selling coffee, other hot and cold drinks, and food to eat in or take away. Brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa founded it in London in 1971. It sells through company-run and franchised coffee shops, Costa Express self-serve machines at petrol stations and other sites, and packaged coffee and canned drinks sold in supermarkets. It roasts its own coffee blends.
In brief: coffee shop chain · company-run and franchised shops · Costa Express machines · supermarket products
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: costa.co.uk.
Who owns Costa?
The Companies House register records The Coca-Cola Company as the person with significant control of Costa Limited, company number 01270695. The Coca-Cola Company is itself company number 00088529. It holds 75% or more of the shares or voting rights. The control was notified on 3 January 2019.
That places Costa Limited inside a larger group. The accounts on this page are the company's own, not the wider group's.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Costa?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for Costa Limited.
All 5 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Nicholas Clive Orrin | 6 April 2023 |
| Philippe Dirk M. Schaillee | 11 April 2023 |
| Suzanne Werner | 10 July 2025 |
| Benjamin William James Capon | 23 July 2025 |
| Katharine Laura Grimwood | 1 July 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Costa file?
Costa Limited reported turnover of £1,232m in the year to December 2024. That was up 0.7% on £1,223m the year before.
It reported 17,957 employees. The year before it reported 17,809.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £65m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £10m the year before.
Staff costs came to £394m. That is an average of £22,000 a head. It ended the year with £136m at the bank and net assets of £264m. It paid dividends of £80m.
| Measure | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £1,232m | £1,223m |
| Pre-tax profit | £65m (filed) | -£10m (filed) |
| Employees | 17,957 | 17,809 |
| Staff costs | £394m | £373m |
| Average staff cost per head | £22,000 | £21,000 |
| Bank and cash | £136m | £244m |
| Net assets | £264m | £277m |
| Dividends paid | £80m | £85m |
| Interest paid | £14m | |
| Interest received | £8m | |
| Directors' pay | £3m |
Read the accounts to December 2024 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Costa?
Costa Limited has registered 6 charges at Companies House, of which 3 are still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
All 3 outstanding charges
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| Provincial Weekly Newspapers Limited | 17 April 2004 |
| Gollard Corporation Inc | 28 November 2001 |
| Allied Dunbar Assurance PLC | 3 October 2001 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
How Costa compares
Costa files as Costa Limited, whose person with significant control is The Coca-Cola Company, with turnover of £1,232m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Costa
What does Costa do?
Costa is a coffee chain selling coffee, other hot and cold drinks, and food to eat in or take away. Brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa founded it in London in 1971. It sells through company-run and franchised coffee shops, Costa Express self-serve machines at petrol stations and other sites, and packaged coffee and canned drinks sold in supermarkets. It roasts its own coffee blends.
Who owns Costa?
The Companies House register records The Coca-Cola Company as the person with significant control of Costa Limited. It holds 75% or more of the shares or voting rights.
How much does Costa make?
Costa Limited reported turnover of £1,232m in the year to December 2024. It filed a pre-tax profit of £65m.
How many people work at Costa?
Costa Limited reported 17,957 employees in the year to December 2024.
Who runs Costa?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for Costa Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Costa Limited's filings at Companies House, company number 01270695, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are single company accounts: they cover this company alone, not any wider group.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Costa: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/costa/. Figures from Companies House filings for COSTA LIMITED (01270695).
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