Vital Ingredient, the LDC-backed, healthy food-to-go concept, has secured two new sites in the City, with plans to add up to six to eight stores in total this year, MCA understands.
Managing director Paolo Peretti told MCA that the 17-strong group will start fit out of the two City locations shortly and hopes to have them both open in late July.
He said: “We are in progress with a number of additional locations and remain confident of hitting our new store opening target for 2016. We are in the process of building a very healthy pipeline of new locations and as we have the funds in place we are on track to double the size of the estate during the lifetime of the deal.”
Earlier this spring, private equity firm LDC backed the management buyout of Vital Ingredient, as part of a £12m funding package that will support the expansion of the business.
As part of the deal, LDC is investing over £8m into the Alex Heynes-founded business to support the rollout of the brand both within London and throughout the UK. Santander is providing a further £4m of funding to support the expansion.
The group plans to use the new investment to more than double the number of its sites to at least 35 over next three years, including exploring opportunities outside the capital. Peretti told MCA that the group was eyeing an eventual estate of up to 70 sites across the UK, including c50 within London.
The deal saw Paul Oberschneider, the American-Estonian real estate entrepreneur, sell the 50% stake he acquired in the business in 2011.
