Champany Inn family seek £4m to expand

THE family behind the Champany Inn are seeking to raise £4 million to expand their current site in Linlithgow and open at least four “gastro pub” Chop and Ale houses across the central belt.

Anne and Clive Davidson have spent the past 30 years developing the inn. Their son, Jason, who will oversee the roll-out of the chop houses, said there was “huge potential” for growth, which will include a delicatessen and the expansion of its existing butchery.

Jason said: “The first stage in the development is to expand here in Linlithgow and build a new butchery, which will accommodate space for a delicatessen and we’ll also look to increase our online offering.”

The family, which will have a 25 per cent stake in the expanded business, have already secured some investors and Jason said he is confident of raising the rest of the funds. It is believed that US technology investor and golf enthusiast John Imlay is among those already on board.

Along with the Champany Inn and an existing Chop and Ale house, the Linlithgow site includes a wine shop, opened four years ago, and 16 bedrooms.

Potential locations for the new chop houses include Auchterarder and Stirling, Jason said.

He added: “Towns like St Andrews and North Berwick also have a lot of potential as a lot of our customers come from there. They travel to us for the restaurant and chop house, so we’re already known in those places and it’s a good starting point.”

While he said there could be opportunities to open up to 25 chop houses over the next five years, Davidson said timescales will be governed by finding the right locations.