Beatons Tearooms Ltd is set to open a new franchise in Chester, the company’s first ‘city’ outlet. Liverpudlian franchisee Steve Roberts will see his dream to own a tearoom become reality.
Building on its operations in Wiltshire and Dorset – and with a Berkshire franchise brewing – Beatons Chester gives the company a national presence. It will open at Easter in a prime location at Bell Tower Walk near Chester Cathedral.
Airy and elegant – inspired by Cecil Beaton
Beatons’ superior hotel-standard table service at ‘high street’ prices, together with an airy, elegant ‘look and feel’ inspired by society photographer Cecil Beaton, are likely to appeal to Chester’s style-lovers and those seeking ‘gracious hospitality’.
The combined tearooms and bookshops group – conceived by MD Patrick Duffy – has successfully positioned itself to fill the gap in the retail book market as high streets rue the loss of independent bookshops, something Chester has suffered from in recent years.
From IT to tearoom
For franchise owner Steve Roberts, it’s meant the chance to leave a twenty-five year career in IT. He says:
“When I discovered Beatons, I found a place where you are made to feel special the moment you walk in. With loose-leaf teas, home-made cakes and light meals plus a book selection designed to amuse and delight, it’s a magic formula. ‘I want to do this,’ I thought, and fifteen months on, we’re preparing to open in the historic city I’ve loved for so many years.”
Beatons House Poet
Chester has also captured the imagination of Beatons House Poet and best-selling author, Liz Darcy Jones, commissioned to write a poem in honour of the city: ‘Chester’s song is sung by its Town Crier and the bells, ‘We’re long on friendly characters, and short on ne’er-do-wells’…
Borrowing a title from the world of tea (Dong Ding is an oolong), and maintaining its group-wide ethos of community involvement, Beatons Chester will host a bell-themed free-of-charge Open House event on 18th April. ‘Make a Dong Ding for Chester’will ring in support for two local charities: Cheshire Community Foundation and RASA (Rape And Sexual Abuse Centre). Event visitors can bell-ring for a donation, honouring someone special and inscribing his or her name on Beatons’ ‘Bell Tower Artwork’.
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