The Yorkshire Meatball Company launches £100k crowdfunding campaign

The specialty meatball and craft beer business, which has eateries in Harrogate and York and celebrated its second birthday this week, is seeking £100,000 for around 9.05 per cent equity.

If successful, the firm will open a third establishment in Leeds; the location of the fourth premises has yet to be decided.

Under the plans, the dining area of the original Harrogate premises will also be extended to incorporate a bottle shop, beer cellar and terrace garden.

In addition, father and son team David and Gareth Atkinson are in talks with a leading supermarket to launch their products into retail for the first time, while a third party has expressed an interest in launching an international franchising deal.

David insisted the company’s roots would always be in Yorkshire – a county he described as ‘big, bold, witty and beautiful’ but added the firm always had plans to reach a national audience.

“Recent crowd-funding successes within the casual dining market, demonstrate that concepts like ours are appealing to a new wave of consumer sentiment,” David said.

“We are one of the most original, competitive and scalable branded-restaurant concepts to emerge in recent years and there is a massive scope to diversify our operating format, which gives us a distinct advantage over other dining concepts. Potential variations include cook-at-home, take-away, food trucks, grab-and-go, fast-casual and prime-footfall casual dining sites.” 

The crowdfunding campaign launched yesterday [1 March] and will run until 27 March.

Various incentives will be available for investors with rewards of between £100 and £10,000 being offered.