Five Après on the cards

Town & Country Inns, the bar business led by entrepreneur Keith Williams, is to open at least five new Après Bar sites before the end of the year, as part of a new phase of expansion.

The group has acquired sites in Worcester, Banbury and Northampton and will spend up to £1m refurbishing each of them.

The 8,000sq ft site in Worcester was a former post office and Williams said that he was looking to convert it into a three-floor venue, while the Banbury site was a former Slug & Lettuce pub.

The company, which currently has six outlets, will open in the Cheltenham Brewery development on 28 April and in Bristol's Harbourside at the end of August.

Williams said the company was in an acquisitive mood and was looking for new sites located no further north than Stafford and in the south of England, with plans to open a further four bars next year. He said that the issue was finding large sites where the concept worked best.

The Après Bars brand, which started out as a ski-lodge inspired bar, has become an all-day trading venue that is open for morning coffee, casual dining and for a late-night drink, with no clear boundary between bar and restaurant.