Boost Juice sees healthy sales rise
THE UK arm of Boost Juice Bars, which is owned and run by Cheshire entrepreneur Richard O’Sullivan, has reported a surge in sales during the first six months of the year.
Mr O’Sullivan, who runs the business with his wife Dawn, made his first fortune by building and selling with Millies Cookies, before bringing Boost Juice to these shores in 2007 after discovering the concept during a trip to Australia.
Boost now has 20 stores, including two at the Trafford Centre and a third at Piccadilly train station, and is set to hit £7m turnover this year.
It attributes its recent like-for-like sale growth to an increasing popularity in the fresh pressed juice category and a drive towards healthy living and eating.
Mr O’Sullivan, said: “Our strong growth in sales has been supported by the increase in discretionary spending among shoppers and by the rising popularity of Boost as the preferred brand in its sector.
“As consumers continue to become more health-focused the well-being sector continues to grow accordingly. We’re constantly developing our product range and the rise in popularity of fresh and green juices was great for us, as we’d introduced these to our menus in anticipation over the last few years.”
He admitted to a degree of frustration over the availability of the right sites at the right price, stating: “We continue to open new stores in major shopping and transit hubs, but the roll out pace is pretty much dictated by the availability of great sites at reasonable rents, the same challenge we faced when we opened over 100 Millie’s Cookies stores during the 90’s. Leases are for life, not just for Christmas, so we get the deal that works for our business.”
Headquartered in Oakmere, Cheshire, Boost has around 250 staff. It has recently opened sites on London’s Oxford Street and High Street Kensington, which are proving to be popular. It is preparing to launch stores on London’s Liverpool Street Underground station and another in Leicester’s Highcross Shopping Centre in early August.
The O’Sullivans plan to grow to around 50 stores over the next three years. In late 2012, Boost UK received £2.5m for a minority stake in the company from the Business Growth Fund to help its roll-out.
