A YORK coffee bar enterprise which negotiated a deal to take over the lease of former Centrica Gas showrooms in Bridge Street, York, a £80,000 per year, is now trading.

The deal means the opening of Veranda Coffee Shops Ltd, a 200-seater coffee lounge and grill run by York-based Demetri Demetriou. He also owns James tea rooms and Principalis coffee bar and restaurant, both in Low Petergate, York.

Mr Demetriou, whose brother, George, is managing director of the Cedar Court chain, with hotels in Harrogate and Wakefield, said: "I am hoping to expand to yet more coffee bars and grills later. It's true that the coffee bar boom no longer exists, but if you are in the market you have to create success through quality and service."

Updated: 10:40 Tuesday, January 14, 2003