Vending business gets a buzz with coffee roasting acquisition
A £6M-TURNOVER vending business is waking up today with a buzz, having acquired an artisan coffee roasting business.
York Coffee Emporium based at Nether Poppleton has been acquired by vending and refreshments supplier the Upton Group, based in Selby, a customer of the business for three years.
It will remain a stand alone company.
In five years York Coffee Emporium, which imports and hand roasts coffees from around the globe, has grown from £11,000 in turnover to £800,000.
It was acquired by Laurence and Philippa Beardmore in 2011, employs 9 staff and last July made the move to larger premises to cope with expansion.
Mr Beardmore will be involved with the running of York Coffee Emporium and will also become commercial director of the Upton Group. Mrs Beardmore will become operations manager for York Coffee Emporium.
Upton Group is a family business founded in 1966 by chairman, Alec Upton, in a back bedroom at his Selby home. It has grown since then to a £6m turnover and 70 staff with facilities in Scarborough and Hull.
Managing director, Ross MacDonald, said: “This acquisition brings together two successful family businesses with a similar ethos to create a broader-based company which will benefit all our staff and current and prospective customers.
“As well as bringing a talented team and top-class products into the Upton Group, acquiring York Coffee Emporium takes a margin out of our business. Our annual turnover has risen by 16 per cent annually since 2012 but we now have 36% projected growth in 2016-2017.”
Mr Beardmore added: “Both we and the Upton Group realised that it would make perfect sense for us to become a single entity and it was just a matter of timing.
“We have grown tremendously in the last five years but had got close to our ceiling with our previous structure. This acquisition gives us a platform to reach the next level but it has always been very important to us that we should remain part of a family business rather than an impersonal corporate body.
“Becoming part of the Upton Group will allow us to go for bigger national clients and offer a wider range of services, training and technology and we are all excited by the opportunities it offers.”
