Europe's biggest Japanese "conveyor-belt" restaurant is coming to Brighton.

Yo! Sushi - founded by renowned entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe - has snapped up the ground floor of the new retail and housing development in Jubilee Street.

It is the first retailer to commit itself to the £50 million regeneration scheme which will include shops, offices and an 80-bedroom boutique hotel on a public square.

The chain has opened 19 restaurants in the UK since its launch in 1996 but, besides Gatwick, none have been outside London, Manchester and Birmingham.

Its decision to open its 20th restaurant in North Laine is expected to create a stronger pull towards the east of the city centre away from Churchill Square.

Tony Mernagh, executive director of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said: "This is good news for the owners of the site, who did not have any tenants lined up.

"There is usually a game of wait-and-see with these new developments.

"People hold back to see who else is moving in, which can be self-defeating.

"Hopefully, Yo! Sushi will get the ball rolling.

"The square has to have some kind of theme and classy restaurants, rather than, say, big fashion stores, would work very nicely in North Laine.

"A hotchpotch would be less successful."

Yo! Sushi has employed renowned designer Philip Watts, who specialises in sculptural metalwork, to create the interior of the restaurant which is expected to include port-holes.

Other features designed to reflect Brighton's seaside heritage will include beer buckets at tables, pebble flooring and a customised ice-cream van acting as a takeaway kiosk.

But Yo! Sushi's main selling point is the way the food is served.

Customers choose colour-coded dishes - priced between £1.50 and £5 - from a conveyor belt and order their drinks via airline-style call buttons or robot drinks servers.

The system was developed in Japan in the Sixties.

In September 2003, a management team backed by Primary Capital bought controlling interest in YO! Sushi in a £10 million deal with Mr Woodroffe.

The entrepreneur, a panellist on BBC Two's Dragon's Den, retains a 22 per cent stake in the business and is now developing his own Yotel! hotel brand.

Yo! Sushi, which has eight international restaurants, will provide competition for noodle-bar chain Wagamama which opened in North Road in February this year.

The chain has an aggressive expansion plan in operation and is aiming to grow to 50 restaurants by 2007.

Spokeswomen Maya Hart said: "We are very excited about coming to Brighton. It's a great development and the restaurant will hopefully reflect the unique character of the city."

Tuesday, August 23, 2005