Starbucks entered the United Kingdom in 1998.
The company’s UK expansion began through the acquisition of Seattle Coffee Company, a British chain that operated coffee shops in London. Starbucks rebranded those stores under its own name, giving the company an immediate presence in the UK market.
This entry followed Starbucks’ earlier international expansion into Japan in 1996. The UK became one of the company’s most important European markets and later developed a large network of company-operated and licensed locations.
The 1998 date is sometimes confused with the opening dates of individual Starbucks stores in other European countries. It refers specifically to Starbucks’ entry into the United Kingdom as a market.