Belfast-based bakery and café brand Bread Street Bakery & Café is expanding across the UK, with two new locations planned in Belfast, Northern Ireland, including its first franchised outlet, as the business moves into its next phase of growth less than three years after launching.
The brand is fitting out a new site on Lisburn Road in south Belfast, which will become its first franchise location. A second new outlet is planned for the Loft Lines residential development in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter before the end of 2026.
The Lisburn Road site, next to homewares retailer Bedeck, previously operated as a Synge & Byrne coffee shop. Bread Street has confirmed that the new outlet will be operated by Patrick and Jim Rountree, who already own the Lisburn Road and Ballyhackamore branches of Belfast café business Cafe Mauds.
The expansion will take Bread Street’s Belfast estate to a new stage after a rapid rollout since the business was incorporated in April 2023. Its first location opened at Great Northern Mall in December 2023, followed by an Ormeau Road branch in 2025. The company also opened a flagship bakery and café on Boucher Road in south Belfast in July 2026.
Bread Street Bakery & Café was founded by John Pell, who also operates North South Retail, a supplier of ice cream and baked goods to shops. The concept combines bakery products, fresh food and coffee in a café format.
Director Jelena Zaharcuka said the brand’s early customer response encouraged the company to pursue further locations. She described the concept as being built around “high-quality bakery products, premium coffee, fresh food and a modern, welcoming customer experience.”
The Boucher Road opening has been particularly important to the expansion strategy. According to Zaharcuka, the site has been “exceptionally successful” and demonstrated the potential of the format by bringing together the bakery, fresh-food and premium-coffee elements developed since the brand launched.
The menu spans traditional bakery products, artisan and sourdough croissants, filled croissants, pastries, focaccias and sandwiches, alongside breakfast items, salads, bowls and an expanding takeaway range. The cafés also serve illy coffee, making coffee a central part of the customer proposition.
The Lisburn Road opening represents a significant change for the business because it introduces a franchise model for the first time. “Moving into franchising is an exciting development for us, but maintaining the integrity of the Bread Street Bakery and Cafe brand is extremely important,” Zaharcuka said.
She added that customers should receive the same products, presentation, quality, coffee offer and overall experience whether they visit a company-operated location or the new franchise outlet.
The franchise move gives Bread Street an additional route for expansion while keeping its growth focused initially on its home market of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Rountree brothers bring existing café operating experience through their Cafe Mauds businesses, potentially providing the new franchise with an established local hospitality base.
The company’s next company-led location will be at Loft Lines in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, one of the city’s major regeneration areas. Bread Street expects to open there before the end of 2026.
The expansion comes as the Titanic Quarter continues to develop as a major mixed-use destination, with the Loft Lines scheme adding residential accommodation to an area that already includes offices, hospitality, leisure and tourism attractions.
For Bread Street, the two openings mark a shift from establishing the brand to testing a scalable growth model. The company has moved from its first Great Northern Mall store in late 2023 to multiple Belfast locations, a flagship site and now its first franchise agreement within less than three years.
Zaharcuka said the company’s ambition is to continue expanding while retaining the characteristics that have driven the brand’s early growth.
The Lisburn Road outlet is therefore more than another Belfast opening: it is the first test of whether Bread Street Bakery & Café can take its bakery-café proposition beyond company-operated sites through franchise partners.
