Staff and the Sheriff of Oxford gathered for the opening ceremony of the new Starbucks store in the Westgate Centre this morning (August 11).

Councillor Mark Lygo cut the ribbon to declare the coffee shop on the ground floor of the centre officially open.

The new branch has created 20 jobs in Oxford and is being operated by The Magic Bean Company.

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Mr Lygo said: "It was an honour to be invited - as Sheriff of Oxford to the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Westgate centre.

Oxford Mail:

"It’ll be a great addition to Westgate and I wish Starbucks well for the future.

"I don’t envisage any issues with nearby coffee shops.

"The Westgate centre is a world class shopping centre and it's great to have a variety of shops."

Starbucks customers are invited to enjoy the new chocolatey wafflecone coffee frappuccino and the strawberry wafflecone crème frappuccino.

Rob Todorov, head of operations at The Magic Bean Company, said: “We are excited to open our new store and look forward to welcoming the Oxford community.”

Oxford Mail:

The ribbon cutting ceremony this morning was accompanied by a coffee tasting session.

The coffee chain also offered goody bags and discount vouchers on the opening day, as well as three months of free coffee to the first 10 customers.

Starbucks offers a 25p discount to all customers who bring a reusable cup when purchasing a drink.

Oxford Mail:

They also serve a range of dairy alternative options for free.

The new store is located at Unit L27B, 102 Westgate Queen Street, Westgate Centre, OX1 1PB and is open from 8am until 8pm Monday to Friday, 9am until 8pm on Saturdays and 9am until 6pm on Sundays.