Brighton and Hove coffee chain Small Batch is trying to find to premises for a new roastery, having outgrown its existing site.
Nigel Lambe, chief executive of Small Batch, said that the existing operation, in Goldstone Villas, yards from Hove Station, was running at full capacity.
Wholesale business has grown by about 40 per cent in the past year at the roastery which has about 200 trade customers.
With plans for growth, Mr Lambe is looking for a site able to house machinery capable of roasting about five times as much coffee.
The company was in the news last month when Risk Capital Partners, run by entrepreneur Luke Johnson, took a majority stake in the business.
Brad Jacobsen, one of the founders of Small Batch, sold his share of the business while his co-founder Alan Tomlins and Mr Lambe retained their stake.
Mr Tomlins heads the roasting side of the operation which also includes five coffee shops and two carts outside Brighton and Hove railway stations.
Mr Jacobsen is reported to have made £3 million from the sale of his 64 per cent share. He intends to focus his business efforts on the Urchin pub, in Belfast Street, Hove.
Mr Lambe has sold his stake in the Urchin, which used to be known as the Bell and, before that, the Belfast.
Mr Jacobsen’s fellow Australian business partner, Nick Jerram, remains a co-owner of the Urchin, which specialises in craft beer and shellfish.
Mr Lambe hopes to find premises for the new roastery in the Brighton and Hove area although this is not without its challenges.
On a recent episode of The Vote – the politics and current affairs programme on Latest TV – chartered surveyor Emma Hards, of Stile Harold Williams (SHW), said that there was a shortage of industrial space in Brighton and Hove.
