The Brook

Idea

Please note that whilst the campaign is labelled as EIS eligible, the company has its SEIS allowance remaining. We will therefore be looking to seek SEIS relief on the first £150,000 invested into the campaign and EIS relief on the balance. Any tax relief is dependent on personal circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.

Introduction

At The Brook we make exciting, delicious and nutritionally rich meals for a generation of busy, health-conscious people who want to keep their carbon footprint down.

Having spent the past 5 years honing recipes, and serving thousands of customers, at our restaurants we're now looking to extend our reach by launching a range of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods, that can be enjoyed anywhere, by anyone, at any time.

Our range will provide support throughout the whole week; from grabbing a quick lunch in the office to throwing an impressive dinner party with friends. Whenever you're too busy to cook from scratch you'll be able to lean on our food for convenience, without compromising on quality, nutrition and taste.

Intended impact

We want to show the world that enjoying a diet rich in plant-based foods can be simple, convenient and incredibly delicious. We believe a lot of people are ready to make the switch but find the transition hard; having to learn new recipes and get to grips with new ingredients they've never heard of before.

In addition to this our time is often constrained and so convenience is important. In fact, in the UK, convenience is so important to us that 9/10 of us eat ready meals and in 2017 we spent £4.7bn doing so, making ours the largest ready meal market in Europe. Yet only 3% of the meals available in supermarkets are plant-based.

With a range of thoroughly 'tried and tested' dishes and a reputation for both great food and great service, we're perfectly positioned to help fill this gap.

Substantial accomplishments to date

- More than 5 years experience honing recipes and building a customer base.
- Thousands of customers already served.
- Hundreds of customers already signed up to a waiting list for the new service.
- 2018 Time Out award winner: Best Restaurant in Hackney (after only 3 months).
- 9.5k social media followers.
- National press coverage, including the BBC.
- An existing premises in Surrey to launch from.
- Established relationships with food wholesalers.

Monetisation strategy

We will initially launch our new range via an ecommerce platform and ship directly to the customer. Since announcing our plans to launch a range we have been running a waiting list and already have hundreds of customers waiting to start ordering as soon as we're live!

Customers will be able to go online and either fill their cart with items of their choice or opt to receive the Chef's Menu, which will allow them to try different dishes every week, fortnight or month.

Alongside this we will be testing two other revenue streams;. retail (both independent and major) and wholesale (to pubs and restaurants). We are already in discussion with potential partners for both.

Use of proceeds

We're raising funds to set up a production kitchen, make key hires, develop the product and market the new range.

13% cost of the raise.
30% kitchen equipment.
30% marketing.
27% staff.