Italian coffee firm Lavazza is set to hire for thousands of roles in the coming years as it plans to open up to 400 High Street coffee shops in the coming decade.

The firm, which currently operates just two small sit-down stores in the UK, in Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Harrods, is better known as a coffee manufacturer.

The new coffee shop format Lavazza Espression already exists in several European countries including Italy, as well as China, India and the US. Around 50 of the Espression stores will be situated in London.

Costa has over 1,375 stores in the UK, while Starbucks’ branches number about half that, and Caffé Nero has around 500 locations.