A HEALTHY eating company which opened its first cafe restaurant in York in 2012 is about to opening its ninth site after securing almost £100,000 investment.

The end of the month will see Filmore & Union open in Beverley ahead of further plans to expand into East Yorkshire, Manchester, and the North West by the end of 2016.

Filmore & Union was founded in 2012 by Adele Ashley, a former wellness clinic owner who was feeling frustrated at the lack of healthy restaurants and nourishing take-out options in her local area.

After opening the first restaurant in Low Petergate in York that year, the company last year raised £931,960 through a crowd funding campaign, in return for 22.28 per cent equity of the brand.

The additional captial helped secure the site in Beverley, as well as new restaurants in Ilkley and Harrogate which opened last year.

Alongside this the company, which also has a branch at York Station, invested in a cold press machine at its central production, warehouse and head office in Wetherby, where it moved to in November 2014 to give capacity to serve up to 30 sites.

At the end of last year Filmore installed cocktail bars in its Wetherby, Harrogate and Ilkley branches with a fourth cocktail bar set to feature in the upcoming Beverley restaurant.

Ms Ashley said: "We have wanted to open a restaurant in Beverley for a long time and we are really excited that it’s finally happening.

“It is really important for us to try and keep everything completely fresh and that all of our food is cooked by our chefs on site at each restaurant.

"We are not just a vegetarian restaurant, we offer a full menu with excellent steak and fish options as well, along with a brilliant cocktail menu."

Over the next three years, its turnover is expected to increase by £3.8 million and profit by 207 per cent and the company expects to serve more than one million of its fresh ‘remedy’ juices.

Filmore’s expansion isn’t stopping at Beverley as Ms Ashley envisages the chain will expand into East Yorkshire, Manchester and the North West by the end of 2016.

The Beverley Branch of Filmore & Union will be opening on February 29 in Saturday Market, formerly the Sugarbird boutique.