Cafe franchise opens fifth branch

Friends Sue Berits and Peter Brown set up their first shop, selling Scottish food and drink as well as wine and fresh coffee, in Kippen in 2004.

A fifth Berits & Brown store has just opened its doors in Edinburgh and the pair are hopeful the brand could be reaching a "critical mass" that will allow it to expand at a faster rate.

Berits, who worked in management before taking a career break to have children, said she and Brown originally thought that a franchising model would be too expensive, but a company called The Franchise Doctors approached them and persuaded them that it was possible.

The Franchise Doctors stopped trading before the project was completed, but Berits & Brown carried on setting up its own system and opened its first offshoot in Glasgow in 2007.

Berits said the system they used allowed a relatively large amount of freedom to the franchisees.

She said it was aimed at people with a similar passion for food and drink as the founders, and recruitment so far had come from people visiting a store and then looking the brand up on the internet.

Despite having no budget for recruiting franchisees, Berits & Brown is also adding a sixth outlet in Livingston, and the founders believe the roll-out will start to snowball.

"We both hope there will be a critical turning point when it becomes known and sought after the way the more famous franchises are," Berits said.

The deli, wine and coffee shop concept might never have come about as Berits and Brown had originally planned to take on their local shop.

But as the lease was not due for a year and both were keen to start a business, they chose to open a deli in nearby Kippen in the meantime.

Both had extensive management experience, and while Brown was keen to change careers, Berits had taken time out to have children and was keen to get back to work.