Costa Coffee chain, which is a part of Whitbread group, has said that its like-for-like sales has grown 8 per cent during the 13 weeks period till May.

The FTSE 100Whitbread group, which also owns the Premier Inn chain of hotels, is focusing on expanding the coffee chain and poor weather in the UK helped bring in more customers to the indoor warmth of the coffee outlets. Andy Harrison, chief executive said that the weather played a role during the period as customers looked for the stores for shelter form the cold spring season in the UK.

The coffee chain has a total of almost 1,600 stores in the UK with net 39 new openings during the quarter. On the other hand, the group said that the bad weather affected its hotel business as sales only grew 2.6 per cent while it remained flat on like-for-like basis in the quarter as people stayed away from dinning places. However, the group said that the restaurant business has improved in recent weeks.

The group is aiming to double sales at Costa to £2bn with expansion in the UK and other nations. It is also planning to increase the number of rooms at Premier Inn by 45 per cent to 75,000 in 2018.