Leeds pop-up bar business Zest mixes it up with scale-up funding

Leeds pop-up bar and cocktail business Zest Mixology has secured £80,000 of funding to grow the business.

The business, formed in 2011 by entrepreneur Murdo MacLeod, has secured a scale up loan from HSBC to support the creation of 8 jobs.

The backing will see the company to open a London warehouse operation to better serve their customers in the South of England.

Zest Mixology has supplied pop up drinks services to more than 2,500 corporate events to date, for firms such as Nokia, BMW, EE, Lloyds TSB, First Direct, and Barclays.

Zest Mixology has secured a total of £95,000 in funding so far.

Managing director, Murdo MacLeod, said: “We’re thrilled to have secured significant funding from HSBC which will enable us to scale the business and double sales revenue over the next 12 months.

“Colin Glass from WGN was instrumental in facilitating the initial meeting with the HSBC, through his passion for helping SME’s grow, so I thank him for that. We’re also looking forward to providing further employment opportunities and welcoming new members to our team. As a company, we’ve experienced a consistent history of year on year growth and an overwhelmingly positive market reaction to our corporate drinks services. There’s a bright future ahead for Zest Mixology.”

Andrew Bennett, HSBC’s area director of West and South Yorkshire: “HSBC is passionate about supporting growing SMEs and assisting businesses to create jobs and expand into new markets.

“Zest Mixology is a dynamic business which has now made its mark in the drinks and leisure industry. We look forward to seeing the business grow and our continued support demonstrates our appetite to back businesses in Yorkshire and beyond.”

Since Zest launched in 2011, it has ssen double digit year-on-year growth with consistent 10% net profit, turning over £1.5m cumulatively to date. The last 12 months saw 40% revenue growth.