Free-from baker Tara Taylor has launched a crowdfunding campaign to secure £150,000 investment for her Good Grain Bakery business.

Taylor said the investment would enable her to upgrade and expand the equipment at the bakery, boost its brand presence and create the capacity to launch into major grocery outlets.

“For now, we’ve got the capacity to expand within our current premises, so we’d be looking to upgrade our equipment – which we need a deposit for,” Taylor told British Baker.

“We’d also like to increase our shift output so we can run two shifts and produce up to four times what we currently do, as well as introduce some automation in the packing department.”

The campaign is currently being run through Crowdcube, which gives businesses the opportunity to gain investment shares for 30 days after 20% of the target has been reached.

Taylor set the target investment as £150k but hopes she can over-fund and reach a total of £250k.

To support this, she has been promoting the page on social media.

“The idea is that you raise the money through your own network of people, so I’ve really promoted the campaign on LinkedIn, and I’ve made promotional videos to share on there. I’m also using sponsored campaigns, emails, and talking to friends, family and customers,” Taylor added.

Investors paying over £5,000 will receive a share in the business, and those under that amount will receive preferential shares.