New owners for bubble tea shop

Bubble tea shop, Chatime, has reopened its doors on Long Row in Nottingham after being bought by one of its regular customers.

Albert Piong and three business partners have taken on the franchise of the traditional Taiwanese tea shop with help of local law firm Fraser Brown.

Originating in Taiwan, Chatime is popular in East and South East Asian countries including Piong’s native Malaysia. The Nottingham branch has been open for four years.

Piong and his business partners have invested £40,000 in a major makeover of the café.

The original 12 members of staff remain at the café.

Piong said: “I’ve been a customer of Chatime for many years and really enjoy the experience at the Nottingham cafe. When the previous owner told me she was selling the business, myself and my business partners jumped at the chance to own and run a drink brand we love.

“Nottingham is a great place for us to set up our first business. As well as us being local residents, Nottingham has a strong student presence with two top universities within easy reach of the city centre, which with a high student following, is great for business at Chatime.

“It’s fantastic to be open again after our major refurbishment and the café looks great. I look forward to welcoming existing and new customers and what lies ahead. If this goes well we will consider further branches in the East Midlands.”

Chris Barnes, commercial property partner at Fraser Brown, secured the sale of the tea shop for Piong.

Barnes said: “This is a very popular tea shop in Nottingham and from working with Albert, I can see as a keen customer and business man, he is best placed to take on the site. I’m sure under his ownership Chatime Nottingham will continue to thrive. I wish him and his business partners the best of luck with this new venture.”

Chatime is a global franchise with over 1,000 outlets in 30 countries. In the UK, it has 22 branches across England, Scotland and Wales.

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