The money is from the ProVen VCT and the ProVen Growth & Income VCT.

The venture is headed by John Gater, who also founded Ma Potter’s, a chain of 16 American-style restaurants. Ma Potter’s, which was also backed by Beringea, was recently sold to Café Rouge owner Tragus for £14.15 million, generating a return for Beringea of 2.5 times its original investment.

The Coal restaurants, most of which will be branded ‘Coal Grill & Bar’, will serve a range of grills, tapas, salads and pasta. Jeff Bocan, investment manager at Beringea, comments: ‘John Gater and his team are some of the best restaurant operators in the business. We are confident that we can build upon our success with Ma Potter’s.’