Tower 47

Idea

Introduction

With the help of NatWest Bank, we have been transforming a 2,500 square foot property located in the heart of Camden, London - 'the music capital of the world'.

Soon the Music Walk of Fame, which will be officially linked to Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars, will nearly be at Tower 47's doorstep beckoning those weekly visitors (100,000 ) to come into Tower 47.

The goal within the walls of this 2,500 sq feet is to create an environment providing unique Customer Experiences for visitors and local residents which translate into revenues. The Customer Experiences will comprise of exciting technology, coffee science, workshops, retail, music rooms, and art galleries - kind of like a 'hip' interactive Hardrock Cafe. Many of these proposed facets of Tower 47 have been brought to life since opening last year. Each week customers ask us to build something similar in their 'neck of the woods'. We hope to do this one day, but first we need to complete this one!

Intended impact

Ideally, other high street shops will consider this model and together we can all give internet shoppers a reason to come back to the High Streets. In the case with Tower 47 (T47), once you have decided to walk into T47 you will find yourself immersed in the aroma of the leading boutique coffees roasted in London (Volcano, Alchemy, Camden Roast - and in the future we hope to bring you Tower 47's own roasted blend) brewed by using the most exciting methods such as Pour-over, Syphon, Aeropress and Espresso. All the amazing choices are ground, sold, and/or prepared by what we feel are the finest baristas London has to offer.

To accompany the exciting coffee choices are works of art created by various bakeries such as our selection of mini and full size NY Style authentic bagels. All bagels prepared in various NY styles of course!

Walk a few more feet inside and you’ll notice the mezzanine stage with its gorgeous display of neon works of art and high-spec musical instruments beckoning even those who have never played before - some secret gigs may take place there when you least expect it. Continue your walk through and you will find yourself strolling through various café galleries exhibiting one-of-a-kind works of art from some leading artists. When you stroll up to the 2nd floor, you might find yourself in one of the completely decked-out practice soundproof rooms endorsed by the industry leaders, or find yourself chatting to one of the leading directors of London Hackspace working right in our very own workshop - perhaps about interactive Customer Experiences!

Substantial accomplishments to date

- Received a write-up in the Huffington Post

- Received many short write-ups in local publications

- T47 now appears in London's Best Coffee Guide

- Secured what we feel is one of the most sought after buildings in Camden

- Received £80k from NatWest

- Made arrangements with Makerbot's Head of Global Distribution, RJ Wafer, to supply Tower47 with Makerbot along with its supplies.

- Endorsements from the leading music brands; Pearl, Sabian & possibly Gretsch.

- Have secured an all-star team for every facet of the new business. Each member possess expertise in their areas of operation and knowledge in other areas of the business. Cross skill sets a must.

Monetisation strategy

Tower 47 is located where the Walk of Fame will be located in the near future. The Roundhouse is a few doors down, the Camden Stables is across the street, the famous Barfly is 2 doors down. We plan to have coffee/food, music, art, repair workshops, secret gigs, practice lesson rooms and retail (retail not included as part of this fund raising) - all have synergies - all compliment each other and will create foot traffic for each department within Tower 47. This combined with a great team of managers, sales staff, apprentices and Syd's background, focus, drive, energy and passion for this business, Tower 47 will be on its way to becoming something very special as well as profitable.

If Tower 47 captures just .05% of the weekly 350,000 passing trade, that would equate to 1,800 customers walking through the Tower 47 each week to browse and hopefully buy a cup of coffee.

With regard to the lessons, we have already booked several hours have already been requested/pre-booked from the relationships we've established with teachers, pupils and practicing musicians.

The second year in Camden is planned to see these lesson rooms fully booked as marketing efforts begin with offers to university students, additional teachers, additional practicing musicians and singers.

Third year will lead to next phase in strategy which will hopefully lead to building additional Towers to which the Tower 47 roast will be sold.

Use of proceeds

The funding requested will be applied to the following:

- £10,000 towards promotions/advertising/marketing materials for customer memberships and merchandise such a Tower 47 Camden t-shirts and other souvenirs, and general advertising ie., London Underground Tube signage if possible,

- £10,000 completion of the back part of the building which mostly sits idle. After this area has been soundproofed, it will be used for special events.

- If investment exceeds £20k, then T47 would likely invest in a roaster to begin roasting its own beans.

- if additional investment remains after investing in roaster, the balance will go towards a super neon sign to be created and then mounted on top of the building (per the council's guidelines of course) so that our business would stand out from afar.