Starbucks boss defends Brighton planning row (From The Argus)

Starbucks boss defends Brighton planning row

8:00am Tuesday 14th July 2009 in

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Coffee giant Starbucks’ victory in its controversial planning battle with Brighton and Hove City Council to run a coffee shop in St James’s Street, Brighton, caused anger among traders and residents. Here Darcy Willson-Rymer, managing director of Starbucks UK and Ireland, tells The Argus that his company is committed to the city - and the community.

His views are sure to court controversy. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

As a business and as an employer, Starbucks is committed to the Brighton community and has been for ten years.

Recently there has been much reported about our coffee house on St James’s Street. I want to take this opportunity to respond to you directly, and offer my view on how we work in Brighton and the positive contribution we believe we make.

tarbucks has been credited with leading the growth of the coffee house culture in this country and this has created a whole industry and many new businesses. Many of these are independent operators and I truly believe that big brand names can comfortably sit alongside these to deliver significant benefits to local customers and the broader business community.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, managing director of Starbucks UK and Ireland

First and foremost, to address the planning issue concerning our St James’s Street coffee house, whilst we accept there are always lessons that can be learnt, it needs to be stated that we operated entirely within the existing planning laws and have experts in place to ensure we do just that.

We have been inspected, we have co-operated fully throughout the appeal process and as a result the Inspectorate ruled in our favour.

One of the key criticisms we face surrounds our size.

There is no denying that we are a global company, we are not an independent operator, but being big isn’t a bad thing particularly for our customers.

It means we have global standards to ensure consistently high quality coffee and a great experience for each of our customers in our coffee houses.

It also means we’re accountable for doing business in a responsible and ethical way both in coffee growing communities across the globe and, much closer to home, in the communities we’re a part of here in the UK.

We are also a local employer and each of our coffee houses play an important part in their local communities.

Specifically in the Brighton area, where we have seven coffee houses, we employ more than 100 people from the community.

Each of these Starbucks partners, our employees, share our vision to support the Brighton community. Many of them have volunteered their free time to support, or fundraise for, a number of local organisations including the Royal Sussex County Hospital, The Sussex Beacon, Downs View School, Cocaine Anonymous and the Sussex branch of MacMillan Cancer Support to name but a few.

We also have nationwide partnerships, which we support at a local level, alongside The Prince’s Trust and the National Literacy Trust to help transform the lives of thousands of young people throughout the UK.

Beyond this involvement in our local communities, I personally feel that in Brighton - as elsewhere in the UK - our continued investment in shopping districts is valuable and positive.

It is particularly important in this difficult economic climate. Starbucks has been credited with leading the growth of the coffee house culture in this country and this has created a whole industry and many new businesses.

Many of these are independent operators and I truly believe that big brand names can comfortably sit alongside these to deliver significant benefits to local customers and the broader business community.

High street names can bring large-scale employment and investment to an area as well as attracting customers to places that wouldn’t ordinarily draw high numbers.

Our customers in Brighton like to hang-out in our coffee houses either before or after they have shopped. Local workers will come in for a coffee or a lunch break, and some people will use our space to congregate or catch up on work. Most, if not all, regular customers will also visit other shops, restaurants and indeed coffee houses in the surrounding area.

I believe that independent shops bring much needed diversity to local areas along with a small business network that is always important to the local economy. These smaller retailers often provide products and services that can’t be found elsewhere.

I also feel strongly about our responsibility to invest in local communities as well as the distant communities in coffee growing regions. For example, as the largest purchaser of Fairtrade certified coffee in the world, we work directly with farmers to ensure they receive an equitable price for their coffee, enabling them to enhance coffee quality and the lives of their families and communities. This is part of our global work but I know that local people care about how we source our coffee.

I hope this article goes some way to explain how we work and addresses some of the concerns being raised. We don’t want to dominate here but rather operate alongside others and continue contributing to this vibrant area. We know that members of the community care hugely about maintaining the vitality and diversity of Brighton as do we. We hope there is room for everyone, big and small, so that in these tough trading times we can help to keep our high-streets alive and thriving.