Seasalt receives £16m investment to fund store expansion

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Sep 12, 2018

Cornish clothing brand Seasalt has received a £16m funding boost from BGF and Santander that will be used to open 40 new stores over the next five years and improve its customer experience.

BGF, a UK venture capital fund, invested £11.5m in the business, while Santander Corporate & Commercial provided an additional £4.5m, revealed the brand on Wednesday.

It comes after three strong years for the Cornish company, with turnover growing from £28m to £51m during the period. In March, the brand opened its 50th UK store, bucking the trend of the struggling retail sector.

It currently employs 869 people and its plans to open 40 more stores over the next few years will create an additional 700 jobs across the UK and Ireland. By early 2019, the company will have over 1,000 employees.

Paul Hayes, CEO of Seasalt, commented: “We’ve worked hard over the last few years to grow our presence on the high street, foster an environment which provides a unique experience for our customers, and create more jobs not just in the South West but across the UK.

“This investment will allow us to go much further on all fronts. As well as opening new stores both at home and growing internationally, we now have the flexibility and freedom to continue to innovate across all channels, making sure that shopping with Seasalt is a really intuitive experience for our customers both in-store and online.”

The deal will also give Seasalt access to BGF’s network of investment professionals and expert advisers, and support the business’ development via a number of training, mentoring and seminars from Santander.

Ned Dorbin of BGF commented: “Seasalt is exactly the type of business we look to support: a creative and entrepreneurial brand, with a management team who are passionate about and have a clear plan to continue growing the business. This investment is testament to the quality of the brand that has been built, with sustained growth over the last five years in particular. We’re delighted to be supporting them as they continue to grow.”