COSTA is set to open its fourth Worcester city centre-based coffee shop at the start of next year.

The chain coffee company will be opening up a new store at the newly built St Martin’s Quarter, near to Asda, in mid-February.

It will employ between eight and 12 people and be housed in the stand-alone 1,600 sq ft building, known as Unit 6, on the site which is currently undergoing a £75 million redevelopment.

Costa, which has 1,212 UK stores, yesterday announced its like-for-like sales had risen 7.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to November 29, compared with 6.8 per cent in the first half of the year.

It was reported that Costa – owned by Whitbread – paid £15 million in corporation tax on £377 million sales last year, compared with Star-bucks' £398 million in sales, on which it paid no corporation tax.

Costa already has three cafes in Worcester city centre in the High Street, at The Cross and a coffee shop on Foregate Street next to Odeon cinema.

There is also a Costa at both Tesco in St Peter’s and in Warndon Villages, along with four Costa Express outlets at petrol stations across the city as well as the university’s Riverside building.

A spokeswoman said: “Costa stores always support their local communities as much as possible and this store in Worcester will be no exception.”

She said that after opening they would be informing parent and toddler groups, church groups and youth projects that they would be happy to host events for them.

She said: “We anticipate it will soon become the favourite destination for shoppers and workers looking to take a relaxing break from their busy day.”

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: “The company continues to benefit from being well positioned in a cost-conscious consumer environment and this momentum has filtered through to both the underlying numbers and, indeed, the share price.”