Optimum Group creates 30 jobs with new Liverpool dessert restaurant

Leisure operator Optimum Group has created a raft of jobs in the centre of Liverpool with the launch of a new gelato and dessert franchise.

The firm, which already operates 23 Costa Coffee franchises in Merseyside, opened Kaspa’s on Crosshall Street with a funding package from Yorkshire Bank.

The dessert restaurant has created 30 new full-time equivalent jobs.

Optimum Group decided to launch the Kaspa’s venue after identifying prepared dessert restaurants as a growing UK market.

The company approached its relationship manager at Yorkshire Bank for input on the proposed expansion.

Mark Bryan, managing director at Optimum Group, said: “We think dessert houses are going to boom in the UK over the coming years and saw this as a complement to our already successful Costa Coffee-focussed franchises.

“Kaspa’s is an exceptional brand and we’re excited to see it going so well, with very positive feedback from staff and customers alike.”

He continued: “However, entering into a new franchise and market sector is always an intense undertaking, and we were very grateful to our relationship manager Mike Scott for taking the time to understand our vision and find a way to help us fulfil it.

“Having a named relationship manager at our bank is incredibly helpful; and having worked with Mike extensively over the past few years, we now consider him an integral part of our wider advisory team.”

Mike Scott, relationship manager at Yorkshire Bank’s St Helens-based Customer Banking Centre, arranged the funding package.

He commented: “Optimum Group has been extremely successful in developing its various Costa Coffee franchises, and the board spent over two years surveying the market for the right opportunity.

“Franchise business and banking support requires specialist knowledge and we are proud to be able to provide this alongside tailored facilities for such a strong and ambitious business as Optimum Group.”

Having officially started trading on October 3, Optimum Group said Kaspa’s on Crosshall Street is already on track to surpass its one-year fiscal target.

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