Middle East Airspace Shutdown Disrupts Global Flights After U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran 
Coupang Reports Q4 Loss After Data Breach, Revenue Misses Estimates 
Lynas Rare Earths Shares Surge on Strong Half-Year Earnings and Rising Global Demand 
USITC to Review Impact of Revoking China’s PNTR Status, Potentially Raising Tariffs on Chinese Imports 
Trump Warns Iran as Gulf Conflict Disrupts Oil Markets and Global Trade 
Gold Prices Rebound as U.S. Tariffs, Fed Policy and Iran Talks Drive Market Sentiment 
MOEX Russia Index Hits 3-Month High as Energy Stocks Lead Gains 
Paramount Skydance to Acquire Warner Bros Discovery in $110 Billion Media Mega-Deal 
Flare, Xaman Roll Out One-Click DeFi Vault for XRP Yield via XRPL Wallets 
Germany and China Reaffirm Open Trade and Strategic Partnership in Landmark Beijing Visit 
U.S.-Canada Trade Talks Resume as Trump Administration Reviews USMCA 
Japan Nominates Reflationist Economists to BOJ Board, Signaling Policy Shift 
China’s New Home Prices Post Sharpest Drop Since 2022 Amid Ongoing Property Slump 
Bank of Korea Holds Interest Rate at 2.50% as Growth Outlook Improves Amid AI Chip Boom 
Strait of Hormuz Oil and LNG Shipments Disrupted After U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran 
Boeing Secures $166.8 Million U.S. Navy Contract for P-8A Engineering and Software Support 
Starbucks Corp. is allegedly thinking of selling its business operations in the United Kingdom. The reason why the coffee company is exploring this move is that newer brands of coffee houses are coming into the market and creating tough competition.
According to Reuters, Starbucks Coffee hired and requested Houlihan Lokey Inc., a business adviser, to canvass any interest for its U.K. operations. It was mentioned by a business insider that the company is facing stiff competition against its rivals such as Tim Hortons, Costa, and Pret A Manger.
Currently, Starbucks U.K. is operating more than 1,000 store outlets, and its workforce consists of about 4,000 employees. The Financial Times reported that out of 1,000 Starbucks stores in the U.K., 70% are franchises, while the remaining are company owned.
In any case, while it is mulling the sale of its business in the country, it was reported that it has not yet initiated any formal process for the sale. As of this time, the company is reviewing and evaluating its strategic options.
Aside from the arrival of many new coffee store brands in the U.K., another thing that pushed Starbucks to consider the sale of its business is the prolonged pandemic. The restrictions related to COVID-19 have changed consumer habits, including the way people dine. As a result, businesses have been severely affected, and they started seeing their sales going down.
The news that Starbucks is considering the sale of its business first emerged during the weekend. While it is not yet really pushing for the sale of its U.K. operations, Starbucks is making plans to recover higher sales while also improving its services. It is making adjustments based on how people buy and dine as they are only starting to go out of their homes now as the cases of COVID-19 have gone down.
The coffee chain is hoping that offices, entertainment locations, parks, and other public establishments will recover and return to normal operations because this will also be beneficial to their business.
“It’s quite a capital-intensive estate and it is pretty urban-focused,” a person familiar with the Starbucks sale exploration said with regards to the issue. “It got hammered quite hard in Covid and it has not come back to the same level.”
