£580K loan helps Creams Café get foothold in city

Creams Café, a popular London-based dessert franchise, has expanded by opening two stores in Manchester with help of a £580,000 commercial loan from HSBC.

The gelato and dessert café, which has become hugely popular in London, sold a franchise to Manchester-based business SB Group.

The funding from HSBC was used to purchase two sites in the heart of Manchester which will enhance the city’s presence in the North.

Creams Café opened its first 1,550sq ft café in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens area earlier this year along with its second 3,000sq ft café in Cheetham Hill which officially opened its doors last month.

SB Group expects to see a predicted turnover of £1.5m in the first year.

The opening of the two new stores has helped create twenty new jobs for the local economy and will lead to a projected 4,500 customers per week.

Store manager Poz Bal said: “The franchise offers the ability to create our own stamp on the North and we see great potential for further expansion across the north-west with the help of this funding.”

Sam Roden, HSBC’s area director for Greater Manchester, said: “The Creams Café franchise is a great example of a business taking advantage of a growing trend. SB Group saw the opportunity for a fantastic investment and took it.”

The deal was completed by Darren Martin, HSBC’s commercial relationship manager, who is based at HSBC’s Commercial Centre in Spinningfields, Manchester.

The six-figure funding package was secured through HSBC’s recently launched £10bn SME fund.