Giraffe restaurants set to expand

Family-friendly restaurant group Giraffe has announced plans to expand the chain across the UK aiming to open up to 30 sites by the end of 2009.

The 12-strong group is currently London based but opens in Manchester's Trafford Centre this autumn.

Three further new sites are planned for this year, in Milton Keynes, Walton-on-Thames in Surrey (both October-November) and Bloomsbury in London (September).

Investment in the group will exceed £3m by the end of 2006 and sales are projected to be in excess of £15m by the end of the next financial year in March 2007.

Ongoing plans for further sites include completed deals in Exeter and Cambridge, due to open early 2007. Negotiations are currently underway for outlets in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Oxford, Nottingham and Brighton.

Last year Giraffe enjoyed a sales growth of nearly 100% with openings at the Royal Festival Hall, Spitalfields and Wimbledon alongside its first franchise at Heathrow Terminal 1.

Giraffe managing director and founder, Russel Joffe, said: "We have grown slowly and steadily since our first opening in London's Hampstead in 1998 to create a strong business with a great culture. We now feel ready and confident to take Giraffe around the UK."

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By Jessica Gunn

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