Well-known Brighton entrepreneur Ray Bloom has added another business to a successful portfolio.

Ray, who is a director of Brighton & Hove Albion, his wife Claudine and daughters Carina and Natalie have just opened the ninth in a fast-growing chain of coffee houses at Oxford.

Good Bean Coffee opened its first cafe in Nile Street, Brighton, in November 1998, followed by Bond Street in March 1999 and Traflagar Street three months later.

It then branched out to Bristol, Reading and now Oxford.

Youngest daughter Carina, who is business development manager, said the company expected to have 20 shops by this time next year and double that amount in the following 12 months.

"We started working on the idea of the shops about three years before opening the first one.

"Since the mid-Nineties, there has been a growing passion for coffee shops and we wanted to create our own brand.

"I know it is a very competitive marketplace but we have identified a niche in the market and developed the business around it.

"Lifestyles are changing, people want something different and they want good, efficient and friendly service."

Good Bean has its own central kitchen in Nile Street. Its meat products come from RSPCA-approved farms.

It does not use any genetically modified ingredients or artificial additives/preservatives.

Ray Bloom's background includes running a string of motor dealerships.

He once owned two of Hove's leading hotels, the Imperial and Langfords, and had a highly successful exhibitions and publishing business which was bought by one of the world's biggest publishers.

Mr Bloom said: "The family has a background in the hospitality business from the days when we had the hotels.

"Although that was on a quite different scale, we have a good knowledge of the business.

"We are a very close family and this is the first time we have all worked together and it is working out very well."