Costa Coffee – the Whitbread-owned coffee shop chain – is the new sponsor of the Whitbread Book Awards.

The 2006 competition will now be called the Costa Book Awards.

Whitbread transferred the awards to Costa in order to promote the coffee brand, which has links with literature owing to its presence in Ottaker and Waterstone book stores.

This marks the first time that the coffee company has entered the sponsorship market.

Costa MD John Derkach said: “This is the perfect match for the Costa brand, as there is a natural association between reading and our growing coffee culture.”

The Costa Book Awards will take place in late January 2007 at a central London location.

The awards will continue to ultilise the same format as in previous years, comprising five categories: first novel, novel, biography, children’s book and poetry.

Entry forms have already been distributed via the Booksellers Association, which will continue to undertake the administration of the Costa Book Awards with the book trade.

Coincidentally, both Costa Coffee and the book awards will celebrate their 35th anniversary this year.

Created in 1971, the Whitbread Book Awards were established to celebrate the best books of the year by writers based in the UK or Ireland. It is now one of the most prestigious literary awards in the country. Details: www.costabookawards.co.uk