UK juice bar chain receives expansion boost from Business Growth Fund

Boost currently operates 100 stores across the UK including Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Piccadilly train station, London’s Westfield White City and Westfield Stratford, Meadowhall Sheffield and Bristol’s Cribbs Causeway.

Operating in the fast growing wellness category, Boost provides a healthy alternative to soft drinks, on-the-go meals and sweets.

Boost was established in the UK in 2007 when Richard and Dawn O’Sullivan, the team behind Millie’s Cookies acquired the rights to exclusively operate Boost Juice Bars in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Six years on from its first opening, Boost in Manchester’s Trafford Centre continues to be one of the top three performing Boost Juice Bars from more than 280 stores now operating around the world. In the financial year ended September 2012 the business generated turnover of £4 million.

BGF will take a minority stake in Boost and Andy Gregory will join the board. BGF’s £2.5m investment will help accelerate the company’s roll-out programme to grow its existing store portfolio of 10 stores to around 40 stores over the next three years.

Richard O’Sullivan, chief executive at Boost, said: “Despite the challenges in the economy over the last few years, Boost has continued to grow its army of loyal Boost fans. Having achieved our target number of test stores along with our move into healthy profitability over the last year, we are now well positioned to expand the business to a further 30 locations over the next few years.

“Having financed the business almost entirely from our own funds to this point, we decided to seek some outside growth capital to service the next phase of this expansion. In BGF we have a partner who has the financial means to meet our funding requirements but is also fully committed to this region and has already backed similar roll-out concepts.”

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