Beard Papa (England) Ltd opened its first English store in December 2006, located on the corner of Oxford Street and Berwick Street. It has become the most profitable store within the group and fuelled the company's plans for expansion across London and the UK. And while the current store is located on a high street, Beard Papa plans to open stores predominantly in shopping centres.

Jones Lang LaSalle's retail team has secured three new units for the specialist cream puff bakery concept. The exclusive Master Franchise rights for England were bought by a group of Far Eastern investors in August 2006 to expand and manage the brand. The first new unit to open was a 300-sq ft kiosk at Bluewater in June, shortly to be followed by a 613-sq ft full café at Highcross Leicester, agreed on a 10-year lease and currently being fitted out, due to open in September. Finally, Beard Papa has signed up for a 335-sq ft unit, on a 10-year lease, at the Bullring in Birmingham, also set to open later this year.

James Dolphin, head of leasing at Jones Lang LaSalle, says: "These latest acquisitions are part of an ambitious expansion programme being undertaken by Beard Papa. They are an international brand with over 300 stores worldwide and an appetite for more."

The company sells baked-on-the-premises cream puffs made from a patented dough recipe consisting of an inner layer of choux pastry and an outer layer of pie crust, which is then pumped full of fresh custard when customers order. Beard Papa hopes to secure a couple more stores this year and aims to have 20 stores by 2010. The unique product has no direct competitor in the marketplace, with the closest being described as Krispy Kreme.

Managing director of Beard Papa (England) Ltd, Willem Pupella, says: "The reason why we came to the UK was because the concept was a success in Asia and the US so we were confident it would be successful here, because consumer attitudes are similar to the US. There's nothing like it in the UK so we felt it was a good opportunity for us."

The company's philosophy is simple - to serve the freshest and most delicious cream puffs in the world, using only natural ingredients with no preservatives or additives.

"We're confident that Beard Papa will become a household name in the UK over the next few years," says Pupella. "Our aim is to be synonymous with cream puffs, just like Starbucks is synonymous with coffee and McDonald's with burgers."

At the moment the company has rights only to open stores in England, but Pupella hopes that if negotiations with the Japanese franchise go well they might consider other parts of the UK and Ireland as well.

Going forward, Pupella hopes to build on relationships with Westfield and Hammerson and open in a number of their other schemes. "Once we start working with them on one store, it opens the doors," he says.

He also points out that Beard Papa prefer to be in the retail mix - "in the middle of people's shopping experience" - rather than based in a food court.

"We don't consider ourselves food - it's an enjoyment experience," says Pupella. "Our set up is for people who are shopping and want something to munch on."

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=== Statistics ===

beard papa

Number of stores: 300 in 15 countries

Managing director: Willem Pupella

President: John Pupella

Executive director: Theo Pupella

Letting agent: Jones Lang LaSalle

Average store size: kiosk (15-30 sq m), limited seating café (30-45 sq m) or full café (45-70 sq m)

Total selling space: 12 sq m

Beard Papa's first store: Osaka, Japan, in 1999

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