Popular produce store and cafe to expand

THE MAN behind London's top celebrity restaurant has bought a slice of Lewes' homegrown success Bill's.

Richard Caring, a fashion tycoon and the owner of The Ivy, has invested in Bills and looks set finance a 'roll out' of new branches of the popular produce store and cafe.

Bill Collison, the owner of Bill's Produce Stores in Lewes and Brighton, refused to say how much Mr Caring, who is Britain's biggest clothes supplier, had invested but the deal is believed to worth millions.

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Mr Collison said: 'I'll still be working 90 hours a week polishing apples and shuffling chutney but it's a bit of money to improve what we have already done.

'Nothing will change with Bill's, the reason we chose this gentleman was because he chooses businesses he likes and sees there is a future in it.

'There is a plan to roll out Bill's but that's not an easy process.

'To do something on this scale we need investment and it takes time.'

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Mr Collison said he did not have any immediate plans to open a new cafe and produce store and said despite the massive cash injection the business would 'grow organically'.

He told the Express: 'We haven't looked anywhere.

'Everyone wants to have a Bill's in their town but what I don't want to do is have anything that isn't as good as Lewes or Brighton.

'It will grow organically and with care.

'It's something Lewes can be proud of and it's where I'm going to stay.

'This gives us the chance to grow and it's great for Lewes, as the flagship, to be linked with some of the best restaurants in the country.

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'It allows us to invest in other people including local farmers and small producers, and it helps all of the Lewes companies who are involved with Bill's.'

Mr Collison said he remained the owner and a director of the business.

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