Former Royal Engineer Stuart Montgomery is the cream of the coffee world after scooping a prestigious national award. The soldier-turned-entrepreneur has been voted Franchisee of the Year by coffeehouse chain Costa Coffee.
Montgomery, who runs three coffee shops in Bristol, was competing against major Costa Coffee franchise chains in London and throughout the country.
He was presented with the award by John Derkach Managing Director, Costa Coffee (Global) at a glittering ceremony at London’s St Pancras Hotel.
However, the self-made businessman has no intention of resting on his laurels with plans for 60 more coffee shops in the pipeline. “Running a franchise business is all down to the quality of the staff you have,” said Montgomery. “This is a fantastic award for everyone that works with us in Portishead, Bristol and Henleaze.”
Montgomery and business partner wife Lynn met in Thailand where Montgomery lived and worked for 10 years opening a dozen franchise businesses employing more than 400 people. Returning to the UK the pair continued to run major franchise outlets and now hold the franchise from Costa Coffee for Bristol and the South West.
“At the heart of Costa Coffee are the baristas, who hand-make the drinks that we serve,” added Montgomery. “We have some great baristas in this area and we are aiming to train more as we expand the business. Working in a Costa Coffee shop is not just a job for students and those between jobs it is a real career for those who want to provide a much-needed service for the public.”
Costa Coffee is the UK’s largest coffee house chain with 1175 outlets across the country. The firm recently won the Marketing Society’s “Global Award”, beating global mega brands Yahoo, Honda and Nokia to the top prize.This success followed hot on the heels of Costa winning Marketing Week’s coveted “Brand of the Year” in May, placing Costa in the company of recent winners Tesco, O2 and Innocent.