Second city centre Costa to open in Chichester soon

The West Street Costa will soon be joined by another in East Street

A spokeswoman for the company said: “The store will create eight to 12 jobs for local people and we are very much looking forward to integrating ourselves with the local community.”

The company already has branches in West Street and Waitrose, as well as in Midhurst and Bognor Regis.

And there was talk of opening a shop in Arundel – but the plans have since fallen through.

When it emerged the lease on the old Peglars Shop on Arundel’s high street had been given to Costa, the Chamber of Commerce expressed its disappointment.

An Arundel Chamber of Commerce spokesman said the coffee chain would ‘only increase competition in a competitive local market’.

“Costa Coffee do say that in towns where they have opened new stores there has been no detrimental impact on competing businesses and there is often an increase in footfall due to their presence – we would very much welcome the opportunity to see the hard evidence they have gathered to prove these statements,” the spokesman said.

“The profits Costa Coffee generate will not be retained in the local area, unlike with independent shops; they will instead be amalgamated into the £90m of operating profits that Costa currently generates annually for their parent company Whitbread PLC. Experience to date with the chains currently present on Arundel High Street is that they rarely support town events or local community groups.”

But on Tuesday it was revealed Costa will not move into the Arundel building, because it is not the right size for the coffee chain.