It was not until 1998 that Starbucks opened its first UK coffee shop. Around the same time, Martyn Dawes, who suspected that people wanted easier access to quality coffee, started putting Coffee Nation coffee machines into shops.

Today, coffee shops are everywhere and Coffee Nation has become Costa Express, which is owned by Coca-Cola after a blockbuster £3.9bn takeover. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Martyn Dawes, the founder of Coffee Nation, explains how a trip to the US inspired the business, why his initial idea was wrong and whether he regrets selling too early.

Martyn Dawes is now a Business Leader facilitator, overseeing peer-to-peer forums between CEOs and founders. To find out more about Business Leader membership, visit: https://businessleader.co.uk/membership

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Join the Business Leader community here and sign up for our newsletter here.

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