A popular restaurant on a main west Norfolk stretch of road has announced plans to expand to a new complex in Ely.

Eastern Daily Press: Flashback to 2012 when Arbuckles in Downham Market had an extension to its restaurant. Picture; Matthew Usher.Flashback to 2012 when Arbuckles in Downham Market had an extension to its restaurant. Picture; Matthew Usher. (Image: © Archant Norfolk 2012)

The owners of American restaurant Arbuckles, on the A10 at Downham Market, are opening a second eatery in February 2017, at the Cineworld leisure complex currently being built in Ely.

John Murphy, who owns the restaurant with his wife Maxine, said between 20 and 25 new jobs will be created at the new restaurant, plus several more will open at the Downham site to replace staff moving to the Ely location. Response to plans for the 175-seat diner was positive on social media, with more than 9000 people sharing the Facebook post and more than 8000 'reacting' to the post.

Mr Murphy, of Fordham near Downham, said: 'We have done this now for eight years in Downham. It's very successful and we thought the next stage in the company is, naturally, to expand.

'Social media is a very powerful tool and needs to be used with caution but we like to use it for good news announcements. The response was amazing.'

Between £750,000 and £1,000,000 will be invested in the new site.

The owners are the parents of Norwich City twin stars Jacob and Josh. The brothers would chip in to help at Arbuckles when they were growing up.

Mr Murphy said the decision was a 'no brainer' and part of plans to expand the business by opening three to five new restaurants in the region over the next five years. The 40-year-old said they wanted to replicate the reputation they had for good staff at the new eatery and would be using some of the experienced employees in Downham for management roles in Ely.

The Downham site currently employs more than 90 staff and will be their head office, flag ship store and training centre as the company expands.

Mr Murphy said: 'Hopefully the new restaurant in Ely will take some of our current customers as the Downham site still has to turn away around 500 people over a week because we are fully booked.'

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