The Yorkshire Meatball Co seeks national expansion with £100k crowdfunding campaign

The founders of the UK’s first specialty meatball and craft beer bar and restaurant is set to take the business to a national audience.

The Yorkshire Meatball Co., which has restaurants in Harrogate and York, is planning to launch a range of premium-branded retail products in supermarkets across the country as well as adding a further two restaurants to its portfolio.

The team will also extend the dining space and incorporate a bottle shop, beer cellar and terrace garden at the original Harrogate restaurant.

In order to finance the expansion, the business has launched a crowdfunding campaign with CrowdCube, an online platform allowing investors, professionals and individuals to support the growth of British businesses.

David and Gareth Atkinson, the father and son team, are eyeing a target of £100k for around 9.05% equity.

David said: “This is a big year for The Yorkshire Meatball Co. We have continually refined our concept over the past two years and are now in a strong position to move the business forward. Our growth plans are ambitious, but we knew when we started the company back in 2014 that we wanted to expand and reach a national audience.

“Our roots will always be in Yorkshire, it’s our home – it’s a county that is big, bold, witty and beautiful, we believe our brand is reflective of that personality. But, as we fast approach our second birthday, there is opportunity to build on what we have already achieved.”

A range of incentives will be available for potential investors – with rewards being offered from £100 up to £10k.

David added: “Crowdfunding is a growing and popular way to raise investment and it’s a platform that complements our brand. Recent crowd-funding successes, within the casual dining market, demonstrate that concepts like ours are appealing to a new wave of consumer sentiment.

“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 business is in talks with a leading supermarket to launch its products into retail for the first time and there is interest from a third party about launching an international franchising deal.

David concluded: “The launch of a crowd-funding campaign is just another step in our growth journey.

“We are leading the fight against average, tasteless meatballs in both the food service and food retail market sectors. With so much going on across the business it’s a hugely exciting time for The Yorkshire Meatball Co.”

The team will launch the crowdfunding campaign on Tuesday 1 March and will end on Sunday, 27 March.