Member Article

London's Taylor St Baristas to crowdfund £3 million to aid expansion

London coffee house Taylor St Baristas is planning to raise up to £3 million through the launch of the UK’s first crowdfunded “Coffee Bond”.

The bond is live on Crowdcube and is the fifth mini-bond to launch on the crowdfunding platform.

Taylor St plans to double the size of its business over the next two years, with funds gained being used to open four shops in 2015, and a further six shops in 2016. According to market research firm Allegra Strategies, 32% of consumers now choose their coffee shop based on “quality” – up from 23% in 2009.

This is seen to be one of the most dominant consumer trends in an industry that is set to top £8bn in turnover by 2017. Taylor St CEO Richard Shaer said: “This is a great time for Taylor St to be growing its business, “Every day, we’re seeing new people walk through our doors in search of better coffee, and the size of this “quality” segment is only getting bigger.

“As one of London’s leading speciality coffee houses, we’re exceptionally placed to benefit from this consumer trend towards quality coffee.” “So many of our regulars have asked to get more involved in Taylor St. Something like this will give them just that opportunity. It’ll allow them to benefit directly from the support they daily give our business,” Luke Lang, co-founder and CEO of Crowdcube said: “Mini-bonds enable companies like Taylor St to raise growth capital and really involve their customers in the business.

“Until now however launching a mini-bond has been a time-consuming and expensive process. Crowdcube’s Mini Bond takes away the complexity and costs for businesses.

“For customers and investors, the opportunity to invest in companies they already know, and want to support, as well as receive a regular financial return on their investment, can be hugely appealing.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .