How would you react if somebody asked you for a shag?

Would you be stunned? Flattered? Ashamed?

Whatever you might be thinking, shag-asking might soon become common language among smokers in London. That is, if Britain's Peter Lloyd materialises his idea for producing a cigarette brand called Shag.

Last week, Peter was in Bulgaria researching the opportunities for actually producing the new brand of cigarettes here.

"I am just an ordinary guy trying to make honest lev or two," he said but the naughty sparkle in his eyes spoke of his not-quite-ordinary personality.

Once upon a time, Peter studied to be an accountant but the profession did not seem to suit him much. He tried it for a year and a half but eventually decided he did not want to do that.

He took up his family's business of tobacco shops, one of which has been going since 1890. He also sells Cuban cigars, mostly in the United States and a little around Europe and the UK. "Cigars for the stars," he said, referring to some of his regular clients among Hollywood movie stars such as Robert De Niro.

Himself a heavy smoker, Peter tries to stick to cigars because "you don't inhale so much". After many years in the smoking business, Peter realised that compared to clothes and perfumes, cigarettes never got that sort of strong branding.

"So, why not do something more interesting?" he thought.

The unusual name came to his mind from a text mobile phone message sent by a girl.

"I wanted to do something really original," Peter said. "The name Shag has plenty of connotations - it means a fine cut of tobacco, it means sex, it also means a shag cormorant bird," Peter said fluently, as if reading the word's definitions from a dictionary.

For him, the name is "a little bit naughty but not very much". His basic idea was to produce packs of cigarettes with young cool design rather than traditional cigarettes "that are really dull".

In February, he registered the design. Being the original person he is, he did not follow routine in the design as well.

"We thought that nobody actually designs cigarette packs for girls."

So, he hired a designer who came up with two different ideas for women's and men's design. "One great taste - two great packets" says one of the brand's mottos.

The target clients will be London students. Peter quoted statistics according to which 80 per cent of the cigarettes sold to them were Marlboro Lights.

"Marlboro Light is really what we are aiming at," he said, explaining what Shag cigarettes would taste like.

The reaction of young people in nightclubs and bars where he took samples of the pack designs was very good. Especially among women.

"They would even make up slogans, such as `Coffee break - time for a quick Shag.'" Peter and his partner came to Bulgaria to check what production here would be like. As part of the research, they visited Bulgartabac.

"The price is great, manufacturing is fine, the speed of producing is amazing - six times quicker than anywhere else," he said. "But it is the actual cigarette itself that is a kind of problem. The cigarettes are softer, they seem as if they are not quite filled, which is actually a different style of manufacturing."

According to Peter, that might be a problem, so they are doing some more research here and everything is in a very initial stage.

The volume of production they have talked about so far is 10 million cigarettes.

If everything goes according to plan, Peter hopes to start selling Shag cigarettes in October. No matter how ambitious this might sound, this is a small part of Peter's plans.

He has registered the name Shag for condoms as well. So, currently, he is also looking for a condom producer.

For Peter the biggest challenge in his initiatives was not the actual production but the actual marketing of the products. He is even considering a combined marketing campaign for both cigarettes and condoms.

"You buy five packets of cigarettes and get a pack of condoms free."

Some might think that Peter takes himself and his unusual ideas too seriously. Indeed, he seems resolute to make his plans happen but is not trying to cause a revolution.

"I think these ideas will appeal to crazy people like me. We are not trying to make the whole world smoke these cigarettes. Maybe just people with a sense of humour."