A popular cafe housed at a Derby business centre is now under new ownership.
Bean Caffe, which is based inside Friar Gate Studios, in Ford Street, has been taken over by Swain Myers.
The cafe, which is a favoured haunt for business professionals working in the surrounding area, first opened in 2010.
The premises and the business has now been sold to Mr Myers, who prior taking on Bean Caffe, worked in the manufacturing industry for more than 20 years.
He said: “We are delighted to be the new owners of the much-loved Bean Caffe. This is our first investment in the industry, but the cafe has such a loyal customer-base that we have no doubt the business will continue to go from strength-to-strength over the coming years.
“We are planning to evolve – not revolutionise – the business. As it stands at the moment, the cafe has a formula that works really well and we don’t want to change that.
“We plan to develop the events side of the business, increase our use of social media to engage students in the city and improve the exterior of the cafe.
“We recently held our first event – a soul evening – and the week was our busiest week yet. I don’t think that is just a coincidence.”
Martin Jinks, partner and solicitor in the commercial property department of Derby law firm Nelsons, led the transaction.
He said: “We are very pleased to see the successful acquisition of the Bean Caffe business and premises to Swain Myers.
“The process was completed very quickly and was a textbook example of a good acquisition, taking just two months from initial conversations to the keys changing hands.
“All parties involved in the process worked together seamlessly and the speed of this deal relied heavily on this collaboration.
“The cafe has a devoted customer base, not only within the team in Nelsons’ Derby office, but also the wider community and we are all excited to see the business grow and develop under Swain Myers’ leadership.”
Mr Myers said: “The acquisition process was completed much quicker than we expected, with all parties working very efficiently together.
“We want to thank Nelsons and everyone involved in the transaction for their hard work and dedication to get the deal across the line.”
