Ideal Collection is opening its seventh site in Chichester, West Sussex next week (15 November).
It will be the third Boat House Cafe, which are all located in marinas with the first two in Swanwick and Gosport, both Hampshire.
With a £300,000 budget it is the first new-build of the chain though all three are in association with Premier Marinas.
“It has a classic cafe feel to help cater for the different demographics,” said chairman Matt Boyle. Breakfast and lunch will be served out of season with a dinner offer added in spring and summer. A bistro menu will run in addition to the cafe menu with more course choices in the evenings.
“The idea is to develop and move the brand on for Premier,” said Boyle. “Each marina is slightly different in terms of demographic and the brand can be scaled up or down accordingly.”
The Chichester site seats 60 inside and 60 outside with a large garden that will be up for development next year with the possibility to focus on weddings and outside catering. Recruitment will be done by character with applicants asked to submit a video, picture, short story, song dance or ‘anything creative’ that describes them well.
The company has also set up the Ideal Foundation - a charitable scheme to “give something back to the community” - and kickstarted the Allotment Project to grow produce, which will be used in the cafe. “We have worked with a lot of small charities and wanted to do something that would be long term and woud really engage our staff and customers,” said Boyle. “The cafe will be run almost as a not-for-profit organisation. People can get a cheap, healthy, warm meal and any profit will go to support the Allotment Project. Volunteers who come through the project can then go to work in the cafe. We are looking at setting up an academy to get people back into work who have been marginalised by society.”
Diners at the Boat House Cafe will be asked to add £1 to their bill to help support the project.
