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Asking price: £215,000
Sales revenue: £305,000
Business description: Ciao Restaurant was established in 2005, on the site of a previous pizza, pasta business. As such Ciao has taken the customer base and increased it significantly. The restaurant offers not only a varied and exciting range of pasta and pizza, but is known for its mussel dishes and a la carte. The owners have taken the restaurant from strength to strength in creating a popular venue, a definitive brand and a franchisable business opportunity. It is only serious health issues (rheumatoid arthritis) with one of the partners that causes the owners to sell. For any enquiries please do not contact or enquire at the restaurant direct. Please contact us below.
Years established: 2005 - 2008
Employees: 3 full time staff and 4 part-time
Trading hours: 11.00am - 11.00pm Sun - Thurs, 11.00am - 12.30pm Friday and Saturday
Property : Leasehold
Lease terms: Lease until 2018, annual rent £22,500
Location: Ciao Restaurant has a varied customer base. The venue is well situated to serve several large local offices and businesses, as well as passing trade. Towards the top of the main Bournemouth shopping area, Ciao gets a considerable market share of shoppers and tourists with it’s impressive frontage and exciting menu. Another significant portion of Ciao’s customers are via online bookings through the Ciao website. Ciao Restaurant has affiliations with many group booking companies, and the high hitting website has achieved between 20 and 25% of party bookings this year already. Weekends at Ciao fill the restaurant at several sittings with local, tourist and internet trade. The restaurant has a ground floor with 60 covers including new banquette and booth seating. Set on two levels a special feature of the restaurant is a lower ground floor function room with up to 35 covers including banquette seating. The main restaurant includes recently replaced granite topped bar area, a seating platform and folding doors, opening onto a small canopied terrace providing alfresco dining and a Mediterranean feel. The function room has recently been updated with a small bar to cater for private events, with a bottle cooler and ice machine. The kitchen is also on the lower ground floor with a dumb waiter serving the main restaurant. The kitchen is well equipped, with two large granite pizza ovens, 6 burner cooker hob and oven, numerous fridges and a commercial dishwasher. Further storage is available in an adjacent store room, with shelving, two upright freezers and an upright fridge. Male and Female washrooms are situated to the rear of the lower ground floor, with two cubicles in the ladies, a cubicle and urinal in the gents. A fire door opens into a small secure concreted yard area. This houses a small steel store/shed containing the chilled drinks gun equipment, an upright freezer and more shelving. The yard includes a plastic storage bin for deliveries and the commercial waste bin. A large wooden gate provides rear access to an alleyway for deliveries.
Expansion potential: The vision of the owners was to franchise the business. Over the last three years, they strived to not only create a well known name in Bournemouth, but developed a brand, strapline and fully expandable business opportunity. Ciao is being offered as a business opportunity and includes the website, facebook account, advertising artwork, branded shirts, t-shirts, menu recipes, kitchen manual, staff handbook, floor staff guidelines and colour scheme. The current premises, following permission from the landlord and a moderate investment, could be extended at the ground floor level to provide an additional 30 covers.
Competition / Market: Ciao Restaurant is sited on a road reknowned for restaurants, bars and eateries. There are several other pizza pasta outlets, which with the turnover achieved proves Ciao's potential as a franchisable opportunity. If an independent can operate at profit alongside Bella Italia, ASK and Pizza Express, then the brand is working well. Turnover for the last financial year was £305,000, with an average GP of 77%. With staff costs at 23% of turnover, and rent at £22,500 per annum, Ciao benefits from low overheads. The business is still growing rapidly and represents an excellent opportunity to acquire a highly profitable business in a prime location in this very sought-after town. We therefore recommend an early viewing.
Support & training: The current owners are prepared to support a handover period of 3 months where they will train the purchaser and/or purchasers representative.
Reasons for selling: One of the two partners has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a degenerative disease. Without the mutual effort and motivation the true potenial of this business is out of reach.
This business for sale has a website: www.ciaobournemouth.co.uk

