Plans brewing Sweet idea sees coffee house looking at expanding next door
THE Find coffee shop in Regent Street is looking to expand. The company has lodged an application with planners at Cheltenham Borough Council to use the empty building next door at 19 Regent Street.
And, if the application is approved, owner David Orme says it will allow the cafe to be bigger and better and also move into new areas.
The plan would be to create a link between the upper floors of the Regency buildings to have a larger dining space, and to use the ground floor space for a new venture.
Mr Orme said: “There are beautiful Regency buildings and it’s a great location, and a great building for our customers.
But they’re not so good as a building for a modern business.
“If we are able to move into next door as well, we can have a larger upstairs kitchen and a bigger dining space upstairs, which we could also use for larger events.”
Mr Orme would then change the use of the downstairs rooms: “They’re not so good for customers wanting to eat, there are the doors and the till and it’s a bit cramped.
“In the existing building, we’d be looking to do something with an artisanal grab-and-go.
“Think of places like Pret-a-manger or some of the other chains - you go in, you pick up something for lunch and a coffee and you go.
“It would be that sort of model, but we’d be looking to do it more locally, more artisanally; local suppliers, homemade food.”
Next door in No 19, Mr Orme would like to set up a specialist dessert section.
He said: “It would be sweet treats, I guess is the way of putting it - waffles, cakes, ice cream, and again local suppliers, locally made and very high quality.
“There are some chains in Cheltenham doing just sweets, and they’re very good, but we’d be looking to do it more locally.”
If all goes well with the application, Mr Orme said he’d hope to be in the building next door for fitting out by the end of January and open by early summer.
He said he hoped to be able to recruit between 10 and 15 new staff to a range of full-time and part-time jobs.
It would be sweet treats, I guess is the way of putting it - waffles, cakes, ice cream, and local suppliers, locally made and high quality.
David Orme