Starbucks, the coffee retailer, sought to calm a row on Wednesday over its views on the UK economy after they had prompted a profane outburst from Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, on a New York visit on Tuesday.

Lord Mandelson took exception to remarks on the CNBC business channel by Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ chief executive and founder, in which he said the UK economy was “in a spiral”.