CHESTER restaurant operator PBL is to open its third outlet after receiving £250,000, partly funded through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme.

The Red House Brasserie, in Gateshead’s Metro Centre, will target the 24m annual visitors to the shopping centre.

It adds to the firm’s existing outlets, The Red House Restaurant and Bar on the banks of the River Dee, in Chester, and The Red House Brasserie, at the Cheshire Oaks retail complex.

James Powell, director of PBL, said: “Due to the success of the brasserie at Cheshire Oaks, we have been considering opening another venue and we are very happy to have secured an outlet in a prestigious site like The Metro Centre.

“It will be our first venture outside the North West and we are excited about introducing The Red House concept into a different region.”

NatWest’s business and commercial banking office in Chester provided £150,000 in funding via the EFG scheme and Lombard, the asset finance arm of the RBS Group, provided a further £100k to help cover the cost of the restaurant’s kitchen equipment.

Alastair Newall, relationship manager from NatWest, said: “James and his fellow director, Ray Stalker, have created a popular and successful concept in The Red House.

“The opening of a new site in The Metro Centre represents a great opportunity to establish the brand in another part of the country.”