Member Article

Coffee and wine bar concept plots a pair of new openings following OakNorth financing

London coffee and wine bar chain, Notes, is planning two new sites in Central London after securing a £600k debt financing deal with OakNorth.

The business, which was launched in 2010, is to open two new sites in Victoria and Angel Court this year bringing its total portfolio of stores in the capital to eight and adding to sites in high footfall areas such as Trafalgar Square, Canary Wharf and Kings Cross.

Its new site at Angel Court in Bank will also be the brand’s biggest, encompassing 1,500 sq ft of space, while its Victoria outlet will form part of the new Nova development.

Ahead of its expansion, Alan Goulden and Edward Halfon, Directors at Notes, commented: “Between January 2015 and February 2016, Notes grew from two sites to six and we added a central production facility that can cope with up to 14 more sites.

“We are a very ambitious company that wants to continue scaling at pace, so we’re delighted that we now have the finance enabling us to do that.”

Today’s financing arrangement also marks the first deal OakNorth has completed under the British Business Bank’s Help to Grow programme, which the challenger bank joined in January.

Focused on providing debt finance to high-growth UK businesses, the programme has earmarked £2m to help fill the £1bn gap in scaleup lending.

OakNorth’s Head of Debt Finance, Ben Barbanel, and Finance Director, Deepesh Thakrar, said: “We’re delighted to have completed this deal with Notes – not just because it is a fast-growing and ambitious business like ours, but also because it is the first deal we have closed under the Help to Grow programme.

“This is exactly what the programme was set up for and we look forward to working with the British Business Bank to close additional deals in the future.”