Hi °C | Lo °C A Northern Ireland catering firm is soon to launch its new chain of cafes in England, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.
Mount Charles plans to open a third Fed & Watered bistro in an English city later this year.
The first Fed & Watered unit opened at Belfast International Airport earlier this year. A second was opened last month at the Obel building in Belfast - now the location of the Belfast 'back office' of law firm Allen and Overy.
The company said it had invested nearly £1m in the brand.
Mount Charles has also announced a change of name to Mount Charles Group to reflect its growth so far and its future expansion plans.
Its workforce has grown to 1,000, marking growth of 12% in the last quarter.
Owner and founder, Trevor Annon, said: "At a time of continuing economic uncertainty and record unemployment levels, I am delighted to report that we are bucking the trend. This is testament to the huge strides the company has made in recent years - in particular with the continued growth and success of our cleaning as well as vending services."
While known mainly for catering, the group said its vending, cleaning, industry, health and education divisions were making a growing contribution.
Mr Annon said the renaming exercise demonstrated the "strategic position" of the company as the provider of a range of services.
The group recently secured part of the Northern Ireland Civil Service's cleaning contract.
