The team behind a street food vendor which opened six months ago at a tourist hotspot are opening their second site.

Jack Sherrin and Andrew Young opened Baoboba at Folkestone Harbour Arm in August and have announced they will be opening Little Baoboba at The Goods Yard in March.

The pair launched their first business venture after they “fell in love” with the seaside location.

Now, less than a year on, they have decided to launch a sister site which they say will complement their existing unit nearby.

“We’re changing the menu in our main unit to be more of a restaurant dining experience whereas the new site will be a more condensed menu focusing on providing a faster service,” Mr Sherrin said.

“We’ve always liked the Goods Yard – it’s such a good atmosphere and it will be great to be a part of it.”

He says the new venture came as a surprise after the team were not expecting to open a second site until next year.

“This is a great opportunity, things are going in the right direction and we're doing well,” he said.

“We had no idea how it would go when we first opened. It was a new venture in a place we had never been before.

“After speaking to other traders and seeing what went on down there, we knew it would be a good opportunity but we had no way to measure that.

“It’s on the better end of what we hoped for.”

The 31-year-old added that now the team has experienced running a business amid the cost-of-living crisis, they feel ready for the launch of Little Baoboba.

“We know it works so we felt it was less risky compared to when we opened the first one,” he said.

“We also work hard to keep our bubble tea prices lower than elsewhere. I think that’s why people come back to us – because it’s good value.”

Little Baoboba will showcase bao buns, bubble tea as well as new vegan options, poke bowls, katsu curries and more.

They will also be offering a meal deal so their customers can try a variety of their food.

Despite being quite close in proximity, Mr Sherrin says he thinks the sites will support each other well.

Mr Sherrin said: “It’s like a blank canvas to do what we want and now we understand the business a lot more, we’re able to do it from the ground up so it’s really efficient.

“The Goods Yard is a food and drinks destination so we are not worried about competing with ourselves because the audiences don’t overlap.

“I think having them support each other will work well. It’s so exciting and the day we got the keys for the new site my fiancée and I had our first baby!”

The site’s standard hours will be 12pm until 8pm but when events at The Goods Yard run until later the site will be open around these times.

It is hoped they will be welcoming customers on the first weekend of March.

Meanwhile, Floc. Brewery recently opened at The Goods Yard.

The Canterbury-based business was founded in 2020 and started as an at-home operation of brewing 150 cans per batch before branching out and selling beer worldwide from its brewery and taproom in the city.