Whittard of Chelsea
A Whittard store on Lands Lane in Leeds | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1886 |
| Founder | Walter Whittard |
| Headquarters | Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England |
Number of locations | 41 locations (UK, 2025) |
Area served | 26 countries
|
| Products | tea, coffee, related products |
| Owner | Epic Private Equity |
| Website | whittard |
Whittard Trading Limited, trading as Whittard of Chelsea or simply Whittard, is a British chain of shops selling coffee, tea and related products. It was started by Walter Whittard in 1886, and remained in his family until 1973. In 1996 it was floated on the Alternative Investment Market, and expanded rapidly, building a chain of about 120 shops and several tea rooms. It went bankrupt in 2008; more than fifty of the shops were closed, and the company was restructured into private equity ownership. As of February 2026, Whittard has stores in 26 countries worldwide. The chain has more than fifty shops in the United Kingdom, and one in Taiwan.