£9m investment heats up Red’s True BBQ national expansion

Red’s True Barbecue has made major developments to its UK-wide expansion with a £9m investment deal.

The majority debt deal also comprises a secondary round of equity investment from its original handpicked panel of industry leaders, including Ian Neill, Maurice Abboudi (K10), non-exec board members Brandon Stephens (Tortilla), Stephen Wall (Pho) and Aarish Patel, and retail entrepreneur Sunny Gill.

Red’s True Barbecue, which opened its first restaurant in Leeds city centre in 2012, already operates six sites across the UK and has committed to opening a further 8-10 smokehouses over the next two years.

This is the second funding deal in a year struck between Santander and the barbecue brand. Red’spreviously secured a £5m debt and equity investmentarrangement to support its 2015 expansion including the opening of its Nottingham, Shoreditch and Liverpool restaurants.

Scott Munro, co-founder of Red’s True Barbecue, said: “The UK’s prayers for more places to worship authentic US barbecue has been answered! As BBQ evangelists we’re delighted the appetite for this food trend is still as hungry as it was when we opened our first site in Leeds in 2012.

“Santander has been a great partner and this is a chance for us to forge a solid relationship as we move forward. We’re stoked our original equity investors have shown commitment once again, and demonstrates the strength of the Red’s business. Their wealth of experience is invaluable and has provided great insight and guidance this year.

“The pipeline for 2016 is already shored up with four fantastic sites in legals allowing us to spread the good gospel of true barbecue to around 100,000 believers each month, and positioning us as clear brand leaders in the sector.”

Addleshaw Goddard and Bond Dickinson performed the legal work on the debt facility for Red’s and Santander respectively and Due Diligence was conducted by KPMG in Leeds.