A UNIQUE café selling exotic trending hot drinks is going from strength to strength after selling 10 franchise stores and creating 150 jobs despite the turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mi Chaii was born in Bradford but has now expanded its brand right across the country.

The first store opened on Great Horton Road just over a year-and-a-half ago, in September 2019, but the concept delves back further.

Chai is a type of spiced tea where traditional leaves are mixed with milk, water and aromatic herbs and spices.

It originates in India and has gained worldwide popularity in recent years.

Mi Chaii's website states: "The ideas behind Mi Chaii go back to the arrival of our father from the sub-continent in 1964 – he brought traditional chaii with him and he has been enjoying that tradition ever since."

The first café proved so popular, a restaurant on Leeds Road quickly came next, followed by another store on Oak Lane, in Manningham.

Paul Morris, Operations Manager of Mi Chai, said: "It's been very popular when we started in Bradford, we've had some very good comments.

"We created a nice decor in the Chaii shops, where people from the older generation reminisce with colonial India.

"We've got authentic Asian street food.

"I think we've created a nice brand that takes customers on a nostalgic trip."

Mi Chaii sells three types of spiced tea (Karak, Karak Saffron and Kashmiri), as well as regular hot and cold drinks.

The menu also includes breakfasts, desserts and a variety of street foods that wouldn't be out of place in the markets of Pakistan.

It is this concept that Mi Chaii has begun to franchise out, alongside company-owned locations, and a new store was recently opened in Birmingham, with another coming soon in Glasgow.

Mr Morris also revealed two new locations are due to open in Blackburn and Manchester too.

All this has been against the backdrop of a pandemic that has seen many businesses struggle and even disappear.

Mr Morris admitted it has been difficult, but his experience in the restaurant trade with other businesses has helped battle the tide.

He said: "It was keeping people in jobs first and foremost, it's been very difficult.

"We dipped our feet into the delivery sector - working with Uber Eats and Just Eat.

"That's gone extremely well.

"We've still managed to get the brand and our food out there.

"We really capitalised as much as we could to just keep ticking over.

"It's been really difficult because 50 to 60 per cent of our trade is the eating in experience and that went by the wayside.

"It's been just about trying to maintain whatever we can.

"We needed to keep our experienced staff because we didn't want to be starting again when coming out of lockdown.

"People aged between 18 and 21, they're just starting out, some of them their first jobs.

"We've spent and invested in people and time."

One of the areas with the biggest potential for Mi Chaii to spread its wings is London and a franchisee, who is very experienced in the area with the restaurant trade, has recently signed up to open four or five stores in the east of the capital.

Mr Morris said: "We're looking to get Mi Chaii out nationally and London is a massive market."