Simon Dale, the chairman and founder of the Dalehouse restaurant chain, yesterday announced plans to open a further 20 restaurants and create 600 new jobs in the next four years. The group hopes to open 4 of the new restaurants by the end of this year, creating up to 120 jobs. The programme will result in a chain of over 100 Dalehouse restaurants in towns and cities all over the UK by the end of the four-year period. The company also has a limited programme of expansion in other countries. There are plans for the company to open its third restaurant abroad towards the middle of next year as planning permission was recently received for a restaurant in the south of Spain. At the moment there is a Dalehouse restaurant in Germany and another in Denmark. Negotiations are already taking place about opening two or more restaurants in Germany and three more in Spain. Mr. Dale said yesterday: “Our plans are ambitious and there is no doubt that in some ways they are quite frightening. But we’ve been in business for twenty years and a lot of our staff have been with us for most of that time and, as a result, have experience of things growing at a fast rate.” The Dalehouse chain currently has 82 restaurants, all in town centre locations. The group is planning now to expand further in residential areas. The company intends to continue its tradition of having most of its restaurants open from midday until midnight seven days a week. It will also continue to open restaurants in buildings which were originally designed for a different purpose. Certain financial journalists wonder whether the company will be able to find enough cash to finance its plans. Mr. Dale, however, remains positive. “It's true,” he says, “that we will not be able to finance the plans without some support from the banks, and we are in the process of arranging this at the moment. Most of the money, however, will come from the amount we have kept back from our profits for future investment in the business. We opened 4 restaurants last year so an expansion programme of 5 this year and 6 next would not be outside the normal rate of growth. We have had hardly any problems financing our expansion in the past and expect this to continue in the future."