Sarah Heward and her partner Alan McColm plan to add a permanent extension to the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum in a move they expect will help tempt locals and visitors alike.
Developed out of a derelict former Little Chef cafe in Tyndrum in Argyll, Real Food Cafe is a successful business with a menu that includes fish and chips and burgers prepared using local produce. The cafe currently uses a tented extension to help cope with the peaks in business that occur in an area visited by many walkers and cyclists in summer. This is difficult to heat in winter.
Ms Heward said: "We hope to build on our success through the expanded capacity. This will enable more customers, whether the local community, outdoor enthusiasts or tourists, to enjoy our hospitality in the winter as well as summer months."
Scotgold's plans to mine gold near Tyndrum raise the prospect of an increase in the number of local residents.
Mr McColm, 54, said the couple hope the extension will be built this year. They prepared the plans after moving Real Food Cafe to Royal Bank of Scotland from Clydesdale Bank earlier this year.
Mr McColm said Royal Bank appeared to be more supportive of the business and the couple's ambitions. He said that in his opinion, Clydesdale Bank had become too risk-averse in more recent years.
A former managing director of the Corney and Barrow wine business, 48-year-old Ms Heward started Real Food Cafe with her late husband, Steve Wolsey, in 2005.
The couple bought the building for £295,000 and invested a significant amount developing the new cafe.
Following Mr Wolsey's unexpected death a year later, Ms Heward ran the business alone for around four years.
Mr McColm, an experienced business coach, subsequently took over the financial side.
The profitable cafe had turnover of around £660,000 net of VAT last year. It employs around 24 people in peak season.
