Beanscene, the Glasgow-based ''lifestyle'' coffee house group, has signalled ambitions to become ''a broader-based entertainment group'' with the appointment as chairman of Danny O'Neil, the former chief executive of Britannic Asset Management.
He is joined by Alan Stewart, former managing partner of Burness solicitors and head of legal services at Clydesdale Bank, on a board which already has as a non-executive, Grant Richardson, Aggreko's European head of marketing and brother of Beanscene founder Gordon Richardson.
The new board has already secured interim funding of (pounds) 200,000 to finance expansion over the next 18 months. A free in-store monthly magazine is scheduled for launch in October, as part of Beanscene's strategy of ''cross-selling into the wider lifestyle choices of the company's core market of high end, ABC1s aged between 25 and 50''.
Plans are at an advanced stage for the opening of further outlets in Glasgow and St Andrews before the end of the year, and turnover has reached (pounds) 2m.
Now proposals are on the table for the launch of a record label, an in-house internet radio station, and the development of new software and licensing agreements to enable music retailing within the outlets.
On top of that Richardson is said to be ''considering proposals for a new triple A (Adult Alternative Album) format FM radio station, which may bid for a forthcoming independent radio licence''.
The company has meanwhile reported a record three months of trading, following the doubling in size of its first Glasgow outlets in Shawlands and the West End, while its first franchised outlet opens at Battlefield in the south of the city at the end of next month.
Richardson said: ''The aim is to quadruple the number of Beanscene outlets over the next 18 months. At that point, the brand will be rolled out throughout the UK via a regional franchising plan.''
Licences would be offered for the opening of several units within a defined geographical territory, and franchising opportunities were already being explored in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
He said he had chatted about the business with O'Neil a year ago, but had only now reached the stage of wanting a board with City credentials. ''We have proven our brand in the neighbourhoods, and the next stage is building up to the next funding level, and that is where Danny's experience comes in.''
Private equity and venture capital sources were now being approached.
O'Neil commented: ''I enjoy working with growth companies and companies that are quite passionate about what they do. This business has a real point of difference in terms of what it has to offer, current trading is outstanding, and the concept is working well of creating a lifestyle around coffee and music, and not being in the high street. I find it quite exciting.''
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