Independent café and deli group Filmore & Union has launched a £500,000 pitch on Crowdcube to grow its estate to 30 stores within five years.
Adele Carnell, founder and director, opened the first Filmore & Union in 2012 and has since grown to seven sites across Yorkshire and the northeast with the next three planned sites due to open in the Yorkshire towns of Ilkeley, Beverley and Harrogate in the coming three months.
Last year Carnell told M&C her intention is to establish a presence in the northwest before taking the healthy eating concept nationwide.
Hand in hand with national expansion plans, Filmore & Union is in talks with Network Rail following the opening of the first railway station location in Newcastle last year. Carnell said more would follow to increase brand awareness in different locations.
Carnell, who previously rolled out a network of wellness clinics said: “I’m an all or nothing person, if you have a good idea do it.”
The group envisages a further round of fundraising will take place in 2017/18.
Last year Carnell invested 3807k in the business to add a centralised production unit and head office in Wetherby ahead of the planned expansion.
Carnell, said: “This is such an exciting time for us and will be a pivotal turning point for the company. We’ve grown Filmore & Union from scratch but we now need help funding the growth of the business which is why we’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign. We can’t thank everyone enough for their continued support over the years and we hope that customers, friends and members of the public will share our vision and join us on our journey to become the leading healthy eatery in the North of England.”
Since launching, the pitch has already raised £86,590 of its £500k target.
