A POPULAR family-run doughnut franchise will open its ninth store in St Helens this week.

Planet Doughnut, which started out as a homemade "micro-bakery" in Shrewsbury, will open in Linkway West Retail Park on Friday, August 12, at the site of the former Frankie & Benny's restaurant.

Opening up as the business' third franchise this year, the St Helens store follows on from the successful launch of Planet Doughnut in Newcastle-Under-Lyme in June, where people queued for hours to get their hands on their handcrafted doughnuts, desserts and drinks.

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St Helens Star: An example of the doughnuts on offer at Planet DoughnutAn example of the doughnuts on offer at Planet Doughnut

Launched by husband and wife Duncan and Samantha McGregor in 2017, the business has gone from strength to strength since creating homemade desserts from their kitchen in Shrewsbury.

After developing their brand on social media and in farmer's markets, the St Helens store will become the ninth Planet Doughnut franchise, with another three on the way this year.

St Helens Star: Duncan and Samantha McGregorDuncan and Samantha McGregor

Duncan said: “We are delighted to be expanding into St Helens. We’ve always had a warm welcome when we do pop-ups in Merseyside, and we hope our drinks and doughnuts go down well here in St Helens.

"We grew in popularity quite quickly through posting on social media and attending farmers’ markets and quickly realised our converted garage, that was our micro-small bakery, just wouldn’t cut it.

“We opened our first shop in Shrewsbury and at that point upscaled to a small bakery and over the past five years have expanded into a range of retailers, our own stores and now stocked in Co-op stores across the mid counties."

St Helens Star: The Planet Doughnut shop in St Helens will be the ninth opening of the franchiseThe Planet Doughnut shop in St Helens will be the ninth opening of the franchise

Trying to make doughnuts "that little bit different", their flavours run from the classic glazed doughnut, iced mango and raspberry, through to chocolate bar-inspired flavours like Terrys Chocolate Orange.

Planet Doughnut also offers a vegan range of doughnuts alongside their classic sellers, along with premium blend coffee, waffles, cookie dough and "galactic thick shakes". 

Open seven days a week from 8am till 10pm, there will be seating and easy access for customers to nip in and grab a box and will also be on the major delivery platforms.