Dear Management team member,
Congratulations on your new appointment to the board of Cuppa Char. You have been appointed to
consider the challenges facing the company in the years ahead and to develop a new strategy for us.
As you know, Cuppa Char is currently a chain of cafes serving specialised and high quality teas, with
three locations in Leicester. Though we remain a small company, our ambitions are large.
We hope that you will develop a strategy document mapping out Cuppa Char’s direction for the
next five years. Your strategy MUST address each of the following areas:
 Who is our target consumer?
 How can we grow our customer base by improving or transforming the customer experience?
 To what extent should we integrate sustainability into our business model?
 Should we expand our business and, if so, how?
 What can we offer in terms of our business model that would differentiate us from our
competition?
 What should our specific targets and goals be? And how shall we know if we’re achieving
them?
In addition, we would like a section of your report to deal with:
 How best should we respond to the government’s shut-down of all cafes in the wake of the
outbreak of Covid-19 in spring 2020.
Cuppa Char is proud of our history in supplying specialty tea to its consumers and is keen to maintain
this side of the business. The steady collapse of various regional café outlets is of particular concern
for the board. As the new management team, we expect you to identify lessons that we can learn from
these closures and suggest ways in which the company can avoid similar issues.
Of equal concern to the board however, is the issue of sustainability and how CC might capture value
from social and environmental opportunities. For example, the major café chain Starbucks claims it is
now known around the world as an ethical company. Perhaps this is an issue we should consider in
more detail.
We look forward to reading your strategy document.
Yours sincerely,
Sally Ford

Notes on assessment
 The individual essays that from your report should be submitted by 3 June 2020 via
Blackboard in the usual manner. It should be no more than 3,000 words.
 The essay should take the form of a report written for the company Cuppa Char, as
described in the letter above. That means that it should be written in the style of a strategic
report for a company. However, as it is also a piece of academic writing, you should also
include references and a bibliography in the usual academic style.
 Bear in mind that this is a “real-world” situation, so if you are making proposals in your
report, the board will probably want to know how much they are going to cost.
 The report must, as a minimum requirement, contain sections dealing with:
o An assessment of the current situation of the company, including the question of
stakeholders.
o Recommendations for a five-year plan for the company, drawing on a process of
integrated strategy formation and business modelling.
o A discussion of the future of the tea serving industry and the way that your strategy
will protect and develop the business under different scenarios.
o An outline of measurable goals or targets relevant to your strategy.
o A brief response to the Covid-19 crisis.