One of London’s leading and fastest growing microbreweries, Camden Town, today announced plans to raise £1.5 million of investment through equity crowdfunding site, Crowdcube. Part of a growth finance initiative, Camden Town’s crowdfunding pitch will give everyday Londoners the opportunity to invest as little as £10 towards the £1.5 million target, which will fund the opening of a new London brewery and support the growth of its iconic Hells Lager.
Camden Town Brewery was founded by 39 year old Jasper Cuppaidge in 2006 when he started brewing beer for fun in the basement of the pub he owned – The Horseshoe in Hampstead. The idea grew out of the basement and required more space, so Jasper moved operations to its current location under the eight Victorian railway arches in Camden. Since then, Camden Town Brewery has seen phenomenal growth. Revenues grew from £2.5 million in 2012 to £9 million in 2014 and the brewer sold more than 7.6 million pints in the last year – 140,000 pints every week.
Camden Town’s range of lagers are now sold in Waitrose, Majestic and hundreds of pubs, bars, restaurants and retailers across the UK, Europe and Australia. The fast-growing brewery has ambitious export plans that outpace the production capacity at the current site. Jasper intends to use the £1.5 million investment to build a second brewery in London, bringing the production that it currently outsources to Belgium back to the UK, and increase export revenue to more than
10 per cent of overall turnover.
The expansion will be a boost for London employment too as Camden expects it will grow its current staff from 60 to 200 by the end of 2020.
Every investor will receive an official share certificate, with rewards increasing in line with the investment amounts; ranging from Hells Raiser T-shirts and other campaign merchandise; discounts at the brewery bar and on the website, to fresh beer delivered direct to their door.
For investments over £100,000 the Camden Town Brewery team will throw a party for up to 50 revellers, either at the brewery bar, the investor’s home or office space. A three-day brewery tour trip to Baveria will be offered to anybody investing over £250,000. Those wishing to go all out and invest the maximum allowed £500,000 to reach the ninth and final circle of Hells Raiser are able to suggest what they deem their reward should be, with Jasper happy to listen to any and all requests – so long as they’re legal!
Jasper and the brewery team will also host various other events throughout the 60-day campaign, including a Hells Raiser ‘lock-in’ party on Friday 13th at a new pub site in Kentish Town that will be renovated with part of the funding. A huge ‘Selfie Wall’ at the brewery where investors large and small will be encouraged to snap a shot of themselves and post on social media with the hashtag #HellsRaiser in return for a complimentary half a lager at the bar.
Camden Town Brewery founder Jasper Cuppaidge comments: “We’ve being growing at a crazy pace down here at Camden Town Brewery over the last few years. Building a new brewery will help us to keep pace with existing demand as well as meet our growth ambitions. Crowdfunding means that fans of our lagers can be part of our future success and new investors who want to take part in the craft beer phenomenon can also become customers and ambassadors for our brand. So we are opening our doors to people who want to get involved and be part of the Hells raiser movement.”
