Growth capital investor BGF has boosted the coffers of Cooplands by £7.7m, with the Yorkshire-headquartered bakery chain set for further expansion.
The latest figure adds to the £8.5m BGF invested in Cooplands three years ago. Since then the chain has grown to 170 stores, 12 cafes and 36 sandwich vans.
Cooplands has opened seven new stores since March 2020 and plans to roll out an additional 30 outlets a year in locations such as South Yorkshire, as well as expanding further in its current geographical footprint.
“We’re ambitious about continuing to grow our business and this investment allows us to build on the strong progress we’ve already made,” said Belinda Youngs, who was appointed CEO of Cooplands in 2019.
“This year we’ve continued to open stores, create jobs and develop new products,” Youngs added. “Just this month, we’ve opened a new shop in Lincoln, which created eight new jobs for the city, and launched a new cheese bake to meet consumer demand.”
Barry Jackson, BGF investor, said his company is committed to backing growth economy businesses that will “help to drive economic recovery in every corner of the UK”.
“Under Belinda’s leadership, Cooplands is a perfect example of a Yorkshire company that continues to strive for industry-leading innovation and quality, which, in turn, drives expansion and job creation across the region,” Jackson added.
Earlier this year, Julie Turnbull was appointed CFO of Cooplands, joining David Salkeld, who took up the position of non-executive chair in 2018.
The Coopland family will remain minority shareholders in the company, with Paul Coopland continuing to support the business in a non-executive capacity.
“Even for a 135-year-old business, trading through this year has been unlike any other,” said Coopland.
“The company’s resilience is testament to the quality of our products, the strength of our capable management team and the 1,650 brilliant people they lead to serve our customers in their own communities,” he added.
Cooplands recently announced the rollout of Cybake software across its entire estate.
“Like most businesses, we’ve established new ways of working this year and we’ve also found areas for innovation, including the launch of our online ordering platform and Cooplands recipes and products, which allow customers to recreate our most popular bakes at home,” said Youngs.
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