Bird & Blend Tea launches crowdfunding campaign
Bird & Blend Tea has launched a crowd funding campaign to support its high street expansion, development of a wider range of innovative flavours and the ongoing implementation of its digital innovation strategy.
The retailer is looking to raise in excess of £500,000 through the exercise.
Founded in 2013 by Krisi Smith and Mike Turner, Bird & Blend now employs over 125 people across its stores, headquarters and ecommerce site. It expects to increase its turnover to in excess of £30 million over the next three financial years.
Bird & Blend has opened three new stores and launched a new website during the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking ahead, the retailer plans to use the funding to open four more stores per year in local high streets. It will also create more experiential activity and events, launch new innovative flavour combinations and mixes, introduce new gifting items and invest in digital innovation.
Mike Turner, co-founder and managing director of Bird & Blend Tea Co. said: “Customer experience is at the heart of everything we do. Alongside the fast growth of the digital side of our business, we’re proudly continuing to invest in local high streets too. We see our stores as not just retail spaces, but as community hubs where customers can come to make connections with one another and our team, and enjoy interacting with our teas. For us, there will always be a place for magical in-person experiences.”
Some off the funds will also be used for environmental, social and governance projects.
Smith added: “Whilst tea itself is at the core of our business, the planet and people on it are just as important as the financial profit. A proportion of this raise is ring-fenced for sustainability projects, which is a huge priority for the whole Bird & Blend Tea Co. family. Spreading happiness through tea isn’t just a statement, it’s a manifesto our people live by, and we’re excited to build our business further with previous and new investors keen to help us spread that happiness further.”
