Paul bakery to open first UK site outside London
French bakery group Paul is to open a shop in Oxford, its first UK site outside London, as part of a wider expansion drive.
The site will be the group's 31st location in the UK, and is expected to open at the beginning of December.
Open from morning until early evening, the shop will serve the menu's standard range of bread and cakes, baked fresh on the premises every day, including the signature six-cereal bread. There will also be a selection of pâtisserie, viennoiserie and sandwiches, plus salads, fresh coffee, hot soups, "croques" (toasties) and pizzas.
The brand is planning to open five more sites in 2015.
Jean-Michel Orieux, chief executive of Paul UK, said that Oxford's busy high street made it a good location for the new place.
He said: "Oxford is the ideal location for our first bakery outside of London as we believe it has a wonderful balance of cultural heritage, a well-established local community and vibrant economic and tourism activity which can clearly embrace the growth of our business."
Originally started as a family "boulangerie" in France in 1889, Paul now has sites across the world, including in countries as diverse as America, Chile, Egypt, Russia, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Romania.
In July this year it opened its first restaurant, simply called Le Restaurant de Paul, in London's Covent Garden, serving French brasserie classics in a restaurant setting alongside its traditional bakery offer.
