Caffè Nero refi nances its debt and establishes a new growth platform.

Caff è Nero refi nances its debt and establishes a new growth platf orm

Caffè Nero has announced the completion of the refi nancing of all its debt, the Caffè Nero Group having entered into a new debt agreement with Carlyle, HSBC and Santander.

The six-year loan of approximately £330m also has with it additional facilities of £85m available for growth opportunities. Majority ownership of the Group remains with Gerry Ford, founder and Group CEO, alongside his family and friends. As a result of this new debt agreement, the EG Group is no longer a holder of any of the Caffè Nero Group’s debt, the company report. With the new loan arrangement, the Group has reduced its debt exposure by circa 15% whilst securing additional facilities for signifi cant growth, Gerry Ford commenting: “This is a great platform for us to grow our business, including opening up new stores, investing in digital channels, developing our coffee at home program and building our brand in international territories.”

The Group currently operates four brands (Caffè Nero, Coffee #1, Harris + Hole and Aroma) across 1020 stores in 10 countries. Pre-Covid 19, the Group had delivered notable success, registering 86 consecutive quarters of positive like-for-like sales growth, and in the second half of 2021, with restrictions lifted, Caffè Nero started to return to its normal strong operating performance, they report. Sales in in the fi rst half of its fi nancial year (JuneNovember 2021) were up 61% with EBITDA for the same period recorded at £29.4m. Like-for-like sales at the end of November 2021 were tracking at 90% of FY19 levels. The Group employs more than 5,600 people in the UK and has more than 7,700 individuals working for its four brands across 10 territories.

Gerry Ford added: “It’s great to have our family business returning to its successful pre-Covid levels. We were a strong business before Covid-19, and now having weathered the pandemic, survived a hostile takeover attempt, won the court case against the EG Group and paid back our emergency banking loans over the last 21 months, we have shown incredible resilience and I believe we will come out of these challenging times even stronger than we were before.

“I want to thank our dedicated, fantastic store teams who worked so hard under such diffi cult conditions over these past 21 months. Likewise, our senior operators, central support team and department leads as well as our executive management team have been nothing short of heroic and I could not be prouder of them. We truly have fabulous people and that is what has enabled us to get through.

“I also want to thank our previous banking partners, especially HSBC, Santander, Rabobank and Lloyds who stuck by us in these diffi cult times. I now look forward to taking the Caffè Nero brand to new heights as we forge ahead with our new partners.”

Dash completes investment round to expand internati onally

The UK’s fl avoured sparkling water company, Dash Water, has completed a new round of investment (bringing the total raised to £7 million), and attracted funding from angels including David Milner, ex-CEO of Tyrrells and CEO at Lily’s Kitchen, David Abrahamovitch, CEO and Founder of Grind & Co, and Patrice Evra, ex-international footballer.

Also participating in the round were existing investors Creator Collective Capital. Dash has also announced the appointment of David Milner as chairman, who will be instrumental in supporting the global growth plans for the business. A certifi ed B-Corp company, Dash saw 110% growth in 2021 and is forecasting to sell over 20m cans in 2022. The announcement comes as DASH add their fi rst exotic fl avour to the Dash family – Dash Mango becoming the sixth fl avour for the brand. Founded by Jack Scott and Alex Wright, in 2017, the company is set to be a serious contender to the big names in the traditional soft drinks industry, by tapping into the ethical and savvy customer, with its taste, growth, innovation and brand building.

Dash uses wonky fruit and vegetables that have been rejected by supermarkets, to naturally infuse water with a dash of fl avour, free from sugar, sweeteners and zero calories - an approach that has achieved cult status with fans and investors alike. Both from farming backgrounds, the pair saw fi rst-hand just how much produce never reaches our plates. In fact, an alarming 40% of all food grown is wasted. They were inspired to do something about it, and in 2017 Dash was launched. The latest funding round will enable the team to invest in growth in Australia (where Dash already produce drinks too), widen their distribution channels and continue to drive their direct to consumer sales too.