BoroughBox seeks investment to scale up artisan food distribution service
BoroughBox, the curated distributor of artisanal produce born from Borough Market, are looking for investment to take the business to the next level.
Founded by Andrew Lawson in 2014, the company offer distribution services for award winning, specialist, artisan food and drink producers to sell their products throughout the UK. BoroughBox use a recurring subscription service, corporate sales and an online e-commerce platform to market and distribute products across the country.
Formerly a trader at the world famous foodie mecca Borough Market, Lawson was inspired to start the business after spotting an opportunity to connection regional producers with increasingly discerning foodie consumers. Over 120 merchants already use the BoroughBox platform marketplace, including Soffles Pitta Chips and Serious Pig; Lawson and BoroughBox are passionate about helping small and local artisanal food producers and foodie fans to one another.
The business has just launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowd2Fund.com, and is aiming to raise £120,000 to invest in sales, marketing and technology, in return for a 15 percent stake in the business. BoroughBox are also offering a number of investor rewards including lifetime discounts, alongside Truffle Prosecco boxes and Pine gift hampers.
Lawson says, “Now that have laid some solid foundations for the business and proven the brand and concept works, we want to push on with aggressive growth and customer acquisition. Having smart investors for the journey makes perfect sense. The business is on trend and working with the genuine investor crowd can be great for new brand ambassadors.”
The SEIS qualifying business is planning to build multimillion pound revenues within the next three years, and to then subsequently become acquire by a larger company. Lawson added, “With the landscape rapidly changing in food itself and the way we consume, we could prick the interest of any big specialist food or subscription company, or thanks to the marketplace perhaps one of the bigger online marketplace platforms seeking a fast and direct route into the artist and specialist food sector.”
For more information, visit their campaign page here.
Morning Round-Up: IFS warning, oil hits 2016 highs, small business confidence falls
Growth to slow, warns IFS
Growth in wages and living standards may slow, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, after the 2016 Budget showed a weaker than expected economic outlook.
The think tank warned that “we should all be worried”, adding that:
“This will lead to lower wages and living standards, not just lower tax revenues for the Treasury.”
Oil hits 2016 highs
Oil has hit its highest level of 2016, with sentiment continuing to rise on the hopes of a production output meeting.
Both Brent Crude and WTI Crude were up over $40 a barrel this morning, at $40.20 and $41.54 respectively (0955GMT).
Oil prices have surged over 50 percent from their rock bottom prices since major producers have tried to convene a meeting to curb output, despite the lack of participation from Iran.
UK small business confidence drops
Britain’s small businesses have declining confidence in the face of an economic slowdown, according to a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses. Northern Irish and Scottish businesses were the most affected, showing the least confidence in the UK’s economy, with the FSB’s survey showing the first decline in job creation by small firms nationwide since mid-2013. The Small Business Index, an alternative index measuring business prospects over the coming three months, fell to 8.6 in the first quarter from 28.7 a year ago.18/03/2016
Bank of England unanimous on rate stick at 0.5 percent
17/03/2016
Should I open a Lifetime ISA?
Miranda Wadham on 17/03/2016
Morning Round-Up: Oil and Asia up, Glaxo CEO Witty to step down
GlaxoSmithKline veteran CEO Andrew Witty has announced his intention to step down in 2017, after 10 years at the helm of the company.
Starting as a management trainee and remaining with the company for 32 years, felt now was the time to leave: “By next year, I will have been CEO for nearly 10 years and I believe this will be the right time for a new leader to take over”, Witty said. His departure will no doubt leave a period of uncertainty for the group, with has been hit by flagging sales and calls for the breaking up of the company into smaller units. A minority of shareholders have backed this plan, including UK fund manager Neil Woodford, but Witty has always argued that it is not something to consider in the short term. Last month, GSK saw sales rise 2 percent to £6.29 billion for the three months to December, but disclosed a pre-tax loss of £416 million. Shares in the group rose at open this morning, but have since fallen to -0.28 percent at 1408.00 (0927GMT). Asian shares up Asian shares had a strong day on Thursday, with most indexes closing positive after an increase in investor sentiment and the falling of the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climbed to a two-month high and was last up 1.9 percent. The Hang Seng was up 1.21 percent, the Shanghai Composite up 1.20 percent and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9 percent.17/03/2016
LIVE: Budget 2016
UK wage growth rose in January, alongside optimism for year ahead
16/03/2016
Morning Round-Up: Budget 2016, LSE-Deutsche Boerse merger, oil up
Osborne prepares to deliver budget
George Osborne is readying himself to present his latest budget to MPs later today, which is expected to include an extra £4 billion in spending cuts and announce further investment into UK infrastructure.
It will also include a £1.5 billion plan to convert England’s state schools into academies, as well as allowing them to choose their own opening hours. He is also expected to warn that the “storm clouds are gathering again”.
Join us at 1230GMT as we live tweet George Osborne’s budget announcement. LSE-Duetsche Boerse merger agreed Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange have agreed a merger that could see cost savings of 450 million euros, and create one of the largest exchange groups in the world. The merged firm will be domiciled in Britain and have headquarters in both Germany and the UK. LSE shareholders will own 45.6 percent of the new holding company, while Deutsche Boerse shareholders will own 54.4 percent. In a statement on Wednesday, Deutsche Boerse said: “The combination will offer significant value creation potential.” Oil up on output meeting Oil prices rose again on Wednesday after falling over 2 percent in the last session, on hopes that an agreement may be reached at the upcoming meeting in Qatar. According to Reuters, a meeting of producers will take place on April 17th, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia and with the aim of cutting output. This is expected to go ahead without the participation of Iran.16/03/2016
RBS to cut 448 UK jobs
15/03/2016
