Coopland & Sons to open 30 new stores with £8.5m investment from BGF

Coopland & Sons, the UK’s third largest bakery chain, has received an investment of £8.5m from BGF to boost the expansion of its shops across the north of England.

From its three bakeries in Scarborough, Durham and Hull, Coopland & Sons delivers traditionally-made produce including breads, sandwiches, pies, pasties and cakes to more than 140 Cooplands shops, 11 cafes and 28 sandwich vans.

Founded in 1885, the fourth-generation business has been led by managing director Paul Coopland since 1985.

Cooplands has grown from a chain of five shops to its current size under the leadership of Paul and his team. Today, the business employs more than 1,500 people and generates sales of close to £50m.

With the BGF investment, Cooplands will open 30 new shops in the next three years, develop its production facilities and explore potential acquisition opportunities.

The business will also expand its sandwich van service, which delivers fresh food to industrial and business parks, doubling its fleet by 2020.

The investment into Cooplands, which makes BGF a minority partner in the business, was led by BGF’s Barry Jackson and Chris Boyes, based in Leeds.

Paul Coopland said: “Partnering with BGF marks an important step for the business. Cooplands is in great health and we’ve opened a number of new sites this year alone. The partnership with BGF allows us to accelerate that growth and benefit from being part of a bigger network.

“As a family business, we didn’t take the decision to bring on board an external investor lightly. We had a number of options but felt that BGF’s culture and long-term minority investment would provide us with flexibility and control as we continue to grow.”

BGF’s Barry Jackson said: “BGF’s approach means that we can listen to the plans and aspirations of the businesses we back, and create investment structures that work for them.

“Cooplands has been operating successfully for more than 125 years and is in excellent shape to pursue further growth. We are delighted to back Paul and his management team as they continue to add scale to the business’s operations.”

BCMS acted as corporate finance advisor to Cooplands and introduced the business to BGF, with legal advice from Freeths LLP.

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