RICHARD Carr's new £1.3 million Oyster Quay bar-diner is set to create up to 40 jobs when it opens on May 30.

Oyster Quay - based in the newly-refurbished Poole Harbour Commiss-ioners building - is his first Future 3000 venture into Poole.

It is the latest addition to Richard Carr's Future 3000 leisure empire which already includes Bourne-mouth's Opera House and Urban nightclubs; Toko and Bliss bar-restaurants; Slam pre-club bar and Slinky dance brand.

Redevelopment work at Oyster Quay has been carried out by Poole-based Tekne Construction, based on a concept created by Stuart Jones of Design Mode.

Future 3000 tasked planning consultants Chapman Warren to ensure all planning applications were issued and completed. Case officer Paul Williams worked in conjunction with Colin Patrick of Lester Aldridge.

Poole IT consultants Deverill have supplied the brains behind the computerised bar system which has been designed to speed up purchasing of drinks.

Future 3000 chief executive Peter Gregory said: "We see opening Oyster Quay as a first and very important step into Poole. We plan further investments into Poole over the coming years.

"We hope to offer as many as 40 jobs in Poole initially. This number is sure to increase over time.

"We also hope to provide a very important boost to local companies and economy as one of our strongest policies is that we will only utilise the services of local companies unless that is simply not possible."

Future 3000's last development, Toko, cost £1.5 million. Its bar-aquaria are stocked with tropical freshwater fish such as silver arrawana, catfish and piranha.

Bournemouth Oceanarium's Chris Pring advised Future 3000 on the best fish for the venue.

"The original idea had been to have sharks but they would need to be moved when they reach a certain size and they need seawater which is very difficult to come by unless you are situated on the beach. Toko just would not have been the best environment for them."

Tekne needed to reinforce the existing structure of the building - formerly the Maples store - with a steel beam frame to support a total of almost 14 tonnes of tank and water.