Richard Caring is to run a trial of a café bar version of his Bill’s casual dining restaurants with a view to creating a national chain.

Bill’s Café & Bar is opening in Newbury this weekend and in St Albans in almost four weeks’ time selling a selection of core Bill’s dishes, a variety of sharing dishes, cakes and pastries, as well as draught beers and hot drinks. If the concept, which enables customers to order at the bar or the table, proves successful, more will be opened nationwide.

The move, which is being piloted in two existing Bill’s sites, is similar to the tycoon’s successful development of The Ivy in London into a national chain of cafés and brasseries under The Ivy brand.

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