F1 Company plans launch of café chain

The Formula One Company, the motor sport organiser, is planning to launch a chain of cafés around the world after its stock market flotation, scheduled for July.

The company, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, is understood to have been considering the cafés for the past couple of months.

They will be run along the same lines as other themed restaurants, such as Planet Hollywood and the Fashion Café.

The restaurants will be decor ated with racing memorabilia and serve “fun” foods like burgers and ribs.

At first, the restaurants will either be in – or close to – cities where races are held, such as London or Sydney.

However, there are plans to roll the cafés out to cities which do not host Grand Prix races, to tap the 330 million average worldwide audience claimed for each race it holds.

Ecclestone’s Formula One Company, which runs the commercial aspects of the sport, is expected to raise between 1.4bn and 2bn from the flotation.