EX-COMPASS DUO TAKE ON SOHO COFFEE CHALLENGE

Chris Copner, previously Managing Director of Compass's Business & Industry Division, has once again teamed up with Penny Manuel, Brands & Product Director at Compass until last year, to run the West Country based company.

SOHO specialises in producing most of its range freshly each day, in its own central kitchen, and distributes direct to its stores every morning before opening. Its sandwiches are made with bread baked from organic flour, and its baguettes are baked and filled in the kitchen daily. The coffee is organic and Fairtrade, roasted locally and is 100% arabica.

The existing chain includes two outlets in Cheltenham and further shops in Bristol Cribbs Causeway shopping centre and Worcester. Within the next year the Company has bold plans to extend its network of shops to the city centres of Cardiff, Birmingham and Bristol.

In addition, SOHO has recently signed a franchise agreement with travel concessions caterer SSP, to operate the brand at UK airport locations. Within the last nine months, under this agreement, new stores have been opened at Bristol, East Midlands and Birmingham Airports.

SOHO Director, Chris Copner, comments, “SOHO is a very ethical business in that it always puts the desires of our customers and concern for the environment at the forefront of everything we do. Everyone involved in SOHO is proud of what we stand for.”