Greater Guildford Area ,United Kingdom, April 2026 — Olivia Sarson has been appointed permanently as Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Costa Coffee. Her appointment marks an important leadership milestone in her talent and HR career and reflects the company’s confidence in her ability to lead global hiring strategy, employer branding, and talent delivery across markets.
Before taking on this role permanently, Olivia Sarson served at Costa Coffee as Global Talent Acquisition Manager. In that position, she was accountable for the company’s global hiring strategy and led a high-performing team to deliver talent across functions and markets. She was also responsible for employer brand strategy, helping position Costa Coffee as an inspiring, inclusive, and rewarding place to work across its international footprint. Her progression from Global Talent Acquisition Manager to Global Head of Talent Acquisition highlights a strong internal career advancement within the company.
Prior to joining Costa Coffee, Olivia Sarson built a long and progressive career at Walgreens Boots Alliance, where she spent more than 17 years across multiple HR and talent leadership roles. Most recently there, she served as Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, International, with responsibility for end-to-end talent strategy design and execution across corporate UK functions, No7 Beauty Company, WBA Global Sourcing, and International Retail. Before that, she was Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition, leading talent delivery across corporate functions at the company’s UK head offices.
Earlier in her career at Walgreens Boots Alliance, she held a series of increasingly senior HR roles, including Senior HR Business Partner, HR Business Partner, HR Manager, and Divisional HR Officer. These assignments gave her broad experience in strategic and operational HR support, business partnering, stakeholder management, and people strategy. She also held earlier support roles as Personal Assistant to the HR Director and Administrative Assistant, Communications Team, reflecting a career built through steady progression and long-term contribution within the organization.
Her journey reflects strong and sustained expertise across talent acquisition, employer branding, HR business partnering, stakeholder leadership, and global people strategy. With experience spanning large international consumer-facing businesses, Olivia Sarson brings a well-rounded and deeply experienced talent leadership profile to her permanent role at Costa Coffee.
About Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee has been crafting coffee experiences since 1971 and now operates in more than 50 countries. Part of The Coca-Cola Company, the brand extends beyond its store network into ready-to-drink products, self-serve coffee machines, at-home offerings, and global partnerships. The company emphasizes values including discipline, passion, warmth, courage, and trust, while focusing on supportive and inclusive career environments.
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