Our open letter to Starbucks

Dear Starbucks 

Your name, address, date of birth, these are the words which can't be changed. And we're all expected to rattle them off smoothly. But imagine ordering a cab late at night and when it turns up the driver thinks you are drunk as you confirm your name and drives off. Or trying to ring the bank about a lost card and failing to pass security. Or being refused when trying to collect urgent medicine from a pharmacist. 

One of the things that many people who stammer find hard, is giving their name on demand. Most companies simply haven’t seen this as a problem. But it is. Giving one’s name is a fundamental part of many routine day-to-day financial transactions. As well as some of the more pleasurable ones, like getting a cake and a coffee. 

And there’s the rub. Saying your name is part of buying a coffee from your stores. It isn’t a necessary part of the process. We get it, it’s about being friendly. But it’s tough for some. Starbucks could allow easy, cost-free alternatives. Which we’d love to talk about. And make daily life at least 500,000 people who stammer in the UK that much easier. But so far you have rebuffed every approach we’ve made. 

Starbucks, we’d love a conversation.

Yours sincerely,

Jane Powell, CEO, STAMMA 
Roger Pim, Chair, STAMMA
Paul Gerrard, Campaigns, Public Affairs & Board Secretariat Director, The Co-op
Kamran Mallick, CEO, Disability Rights UK
Martin Radvan, Company Chairman, Weatherbys
Baroness Janet Whittaker
Scroobius Pip, Actor, podcaster
Rodney Earl Clark, Opera & Musical Theatre Performer 
Hannah Tovey, writer
Jon Smith, Sports Agent
Arwel Richards, Businessman & Columnist