HUSBAND-and-wife team Alan and Audrey Brown are aiming to develop a restaurant chain which would emulate the success of Scottish entrepreneur Ken McCulloch in this field.
The business dream began in 1993 when the couple opened their first Bouzy Rouge restaurant in Airdrie, Lanarkshire. A second Bouzy Rouge was opened in Glasgow in October 1995 and at the end of last year a third was added in Edinburgh.
Now a fourth is planned for Dunfermline, which should open its doors in November of this year.
The couple trademarked the Bouzy Rouge name last year. They picked this title for their chain of restaurants while on their honeymoon, and Audrey spotted it while flicking through a book on wine. It is the name of a fine red wine.
''We believe that we can use the Bouzy Rouge brand in a number of ways,'' explained Alan, ''and already in our Airdrie premises we have opened a Bar Bouzy.''
In a new departure the Browns are opening the Moka Restaurant in Glasgow this May with the contractors just about to start work on the development this week.
''The Moka will be aimed at the top end of the market with seating for 60 people,'' explained Alan, ''and will be a #250,000 investment for us. This is in addition to the #600,000 we spent in Edinburgh because it was a freehold site, and we are just about to complete negotiations for the Dunfermline location where we will invest #250,000.''
Midland Bank has provided the support for the expansion.
Both the Bouzy Rouge outlets and the Moka will be controlled by the holding company which the Browns formed last year - The Really Clever Restaurant Company. The holding company is situated in its own offices in Airdrie.
The company's turnover is at present around #2m and Alan expects this to increase to #3m next year when the new outlets come on stream.
Further expansion could come in Aberdeen and Preston where the Browns have looked at possible sites for future Bouzy Rouge restaurants.
A further expansion could come in the shape of a 30-bedroom city centre hotel.
''We have already looked at a possible site and it would be a luxury hotel,'' said Alan, whose family have been involved in the hotel business for many years.
The company's present restaurants provide employment for 120 people and this will be increased by a further 60 when the Moka and Dunfermline Bouzy Rouge opens.
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