Member Article

Meet Josh Thompson: Founder of cold brew coffee company Point Blank

Josh Thompson first came to the North East 17 years ago, leaving his home and life in Toronto behind.

Tasked with introducing introduce the sandwich shop chain Subway to the region, Josh spent the next 12 years establishing 90-plus North East locations for the American fast food restaurant franchise.

After seeing an artisan trend for cold coffee gather popularity in the US, Josh created Point Blank in 2014 and has grown the brand from his Ponteland kitchen, to the corner of a local brewery, to the bespoke production process they have now to meet rapidly growing demand.

Following its latest round of fundraising, the Newcastle-based business has now unveiled ambitious sales and expansion plans which Josh believes will put it at the forefront of cold coffee drinks in the sports and energy drink category.

A natural alternative to traditional energy drinks for the health and body conscious, Point Blank is a cold brew coffee with no sugar, no fat, no additives or preservatives, and only one calorie.

Each 250ml bottle contains approximately 160mg of caffeine, the equivalent caffeine content of two cans of Red Bull or two double espressos.

Josh said: “Our goal is to pioneer and lead the global market with our cold brew coffee as a healthy and natural alternative to traditional energy drinks.

“In addition to capital we have also added strategic partners to our already strong team with extensive and high level experience in retail, branding, marketing, sports management and corporate finance.

“We have developed a sophisticated distribution network, including a national listing with one of the UK’s largest food wholesale suppliers, BidFood UK, which is capable of servicing our ambitious plans to widen our customer base and achieve ambitious sales targets within the next 12 months.

Internationally the group are distributed in Canada, and recently began supplying the San Francisco 49ers American Football team, who started to drink Point Blank before and during games as well as during training.

Josh will be meeting with the investment group behind the team to discuss partnership opportunities and growing the Point Blank brand in the US market later this month.

“In order to maximise these opportunities Point Blank will be looking to recruit up to five additional team members in key areas such as sales support and operations to help us execute our plans.”

Commercial Law firm Square One Law advised Point Blank founder Josh Thompson on its latest investment having secured a significant sum to further accelerate growth and expansion of the brand.

Ashraf Ali, Senior Associate in Square One Law’s corporate team, said: “Josh’s ambitions for the Point Blank brand have been clear from the outset of the business and his approach has been very entrepreneurial.

“He has identified a gap in the global drinks market and developed an innovative product and brand to capitalise on it. He is putting in place structured and well researched plans which will maximise the impact of the investment.”

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