NOTTINGHAM, UK – A Nottingham online coffee subscription business is looking to scale up by looking for £1m of investment. The owner of the Coffee Tasting Club (CTC), which started life as a side-project for digital marketing specialist Boom Online Marketing in Stapleford, says the business is ready to grow and the money will be boost CTC’s team, develop data and user systems, customer acquisition and working capital.
Robert Deans said: “Coffee Tasting Club was initially going to be a side-line project to showcase Boom’s expertise in ecommerce.
We knew the market as we are all mad about coffee and consume vast amounts as a busy creative agency but by the end of 2016 we knew we were onto something pretty exciting.
“If there is one thing we know more about than coffee, it is how to build a compelling digital campaign to drive ecommerce, so we built a strong infrastructure and put people on it full time albeit with a shoe-string budget. Now we’re at circa £300,000 in sales and ready to grow.”
CTC says it has over 10,000 customers, averaging 450 subscription bags per month. The market leaders are averaging close to 4,000 but there is room for CTC in their own niche, said Deans.
He added: “Coffee is the second largest commodity in the world – second only to crude oil – and our niche, the UK speciality coffee market will double in the next 5 years. The market leaders are doing huge numbers and are doing a great job of growing the market.
“With that, they are presenting opportunities that are as yet unmet. That’s where we come in, as there is a gap to be bridged in the accessory market and we have the knowledge, systems and customers to fill that gap. We are open to all forms of funding and have already explored some options but we remain open to suggestions.
“As a guide, we’re seeking between £500,000 and £1m to really start to scale this properly. My message to the investment community is to come and talk to us and learn more about the opportunity – and don’t worry, we’ll sort the coffee.”
