Starbucks is planning to hire another 400 staff throughout the UK as the coffee chain has been bolstered by the relaxing of pandemic restrictions.

In a bid to cope with elevated demand, the new roles will be available at around 200 sites across the country, including drive-through, high street and city centre locations.

Starbucks currently employs 3,664 employees across the UK, City AM reports.

The coffee chain, founded 50 years ago in Seattle, announced it is recruiting new staff across Britain ahead of a forecast busy summer season.

The firm’s new recruitment drive will first fill “natural vacancies” from staff who chose to leave the business and were not replaced during the coronavirus crisis.

Starbucks added that around 98% of stores are currently operational.

New roles have been created across the UK including in Aberdeen, Cardiff, Coventry, Winchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Dundee, Birmingham, Derby and Newcastle.

“It has been incredibly difficult to be a high-street retailer in the last year as the Covid-19 pandemic has placed operating restrictions on our business which have impacted our profitability dramatically,” Alex Rayner, general manager at Starbucks UK, told City AM on Monday.

“But our priority the entire time has been to keep our people employed, avoid making redundancies in our company-operated stores and be prepared to safely re-open as restrictions ease.

"That's why I'm really pleased we are now in a position to rebuild our workforce by offering 400 jobs, as we are optimistic about the future of the business."