Healthy eating chain crowdfunds almost £1m towards expansion

Healthy eating chain Filmore & Union has nearly doubled its CrowdCube target to raise almost £1m towards expansion in the North of England.

The group launched its crowdfunding campaign in May with a target of £500,000, and has raised £931,960 from 317 investors in return for 22.8 per cent equity.

The extra funding will allow the company to accelerate its expansion plans, with sites opening in Ilkley and Harrogate in August, and Beverley in September.

Founded in 2011, Filmore & Union currently operates seven sites across Yorkshire with a group turnover of £3.2m in 2014.

Over the next three years the company expects turnover to increase by £3.8m with profits rising 207 per cent.

The company will use a portion of the capital to invest in a brand new cold press machine – expecting to sell over one million fresh ‘remedy’ juices by 2018.

Adele Carnell, Filmore & Union director, said “We can’t believe we’ve managed to overfund by such a large amount – the response from customers and investors from across the country has been overwhelming and we want to thank everyone for their support during our journey so far.”

She explained that the majority of investment came directly from customers, with the company set to open across additional regions to meet demand.

“Overfunding has meant we are able to speed up our growth which hopefully means investors will see a return quicker than planned,” she said.