Forget the coffee, here comes Creams

TWO brothers are aiming to bring their brand of high teas back to Huddersfield.

Businessmen Teyeb and Unzar Aleem came up with the concept of a luxury tea room selling mouthwatering cakes and savouries back in 2012 and opened Creams Tearoom and Patisserie at Market Street in September that year.

However, the business was later sold to a franchisee and closed after the lease was sold back to the landlord who wished to use the property for other business interests.

Now the brothers hope to return to Huddersfield in the not-to-distant future as they unveil ambitious plans to make Creams a national and international brand.

The brothers have invested £350,000 to refurbish and re-open their existing Creams British Luxury outlet in Leeds city centre. The shop at The Core on the Headrow is one of five currently trading. The others are in Bolton, Derby, Canterbury and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent – the latter representing a £400,000 investment.

Further venues are set to open in Livingston, Scotland, and central London locations later in the year.

But the brothers have ambitions to open 100 stores over the next five years via a franchise scheme.

Teyeb, the firm’s operations director, who has previously worked with Intel, Fujitsu and Asda, said: “There’s a big gap in the high street market for a high quality, high class tea room aimed at the thousands of aspirational millennial seeking to replicate the sophisticated lifestyles of the celebrities they see on TV and online and follow on social media.”

The brothers have appointed former Cash Converters chief executive and franchise expert Mark Lemmon as a consultant to help with their expansion plans.

Unzar, managing Creams, said: “We believe we now have the perfect offer to entice new franchisees, which combines perfectly with a 5,000sq ft facility in Leeds, where we manufacture all of our cakes, macaroons, confectionary and savouries, meaning we retain absolute control over the quality of goods being sold by Creams.”

He said: “We are looking for people who are tenacious, entrepreneurial and willing to learn. We teach them about getting into business, our operational systems are there to support them and we provide Teyeb (centre) and Unzar Aleem (right), of Creams British Luxury, with Mark Lemmon (second right) at the official opening of Creams in Leeds. Inset: A look inside and (below) Creams attracts the crowds them with training and guidance.”

The brothers said market research suggested there was also demand for Creams British Luxury branded products and venues abroad – most notably India and the Middle East.

“The demand for quintessentially British products in overseas markets is incredibly high and Creams ticks all the boxes,” said Teyeb.

“Incredibly, we’ve taken orders from 28 different countries for branded products without doing anything more than setting up an online retail site. With good marketing and local venues those who manage to secure an international franchise will undoubtedly reap the benefits of the worldwide love of British teas.”

The brothers have created 66 jobs to date and aim to generate another 300 jobs within the next two years.

Re-opening in the town would be the icing on the cake.

Unzar said: “We are looking for potential sites, possibly near the John Smith’s Stadium. We have great hopes of coming back to Huddersfield because this is where it all started.”

“Creams British Luxury can do for the traditional afternoon teas what Starbucks has done for coffee,” said Unzar. “We really are that confident.”