A BUSINESSMAN re-opening the Riverside Cafe in Worcester has laid out his plans for the venture.

Alex Daw, who also runs Little Al’s Kitchen, a mobile catering company, announced on Facebook that he had won the contract to take over the now vacant cafe after Worcester City Council put the site out to tender.

Mr Daw, 40, said: “We applied for the tender back in October and we officially get the keys in a couple of weeks.

“We are going to re-open it as Cafe Viaduct – we want to really refresh that area of the waterfront and do things a bit differently.

“We are planning to have a barista coffee machine with all our staff being barista trained as well as serving all homemade food with vegan options too.

“We want to serve quality food and are very keen on fairtrade products too. It won’t be a restaurant, but there will be a good selection on offer.

“We get the keys in a couple of weeks then there will then be another couple of weeks refurbishment before we open properly.

“For the first couple of weeks we will be opening on weekends only so we can address any teething problems which may arise.”

Mr Daw said he was hoping the refurbishment of the cafe would revitalise the area, being more attractive for tourists and bringing in more money to the city.

The Worcester News ran a story earlier this month announcing that Mr Daw had revealed he was taking over the cafe.

The cafe closed down in October last year after the previous owner, Chris Wise, decided not to renew the lease.

Mr Wise had run the cafe for eight years alongside his partner Mandy Thomas, and said he had decided it was the right time to step away.