Ex-Waitrose boss to consider British tea begin-up global
We Are Tea, the top quality tea manufacturer, has secured former Waitrose boss Steven Esom as a non-executive director to help accelerate global revenue 
We Are Tea, a London-based tea retailer, has appointed ex-Waitrose manager Steven Esom to its board as component of a method to strike a turnover of £5m within three a long time and just take its exclusive loose tea idea to new overseas markets.
The quality tea model, which sources leaves from all over the world, mixing and packaging the teas right here in the Uk, at the moment sells its items via Tesco, Ocado, and Total Foods, as effectively as running tea concessions in Virgin Active fitness centers and promoting tea immediate to the buyer on the internet.
United kingdom retail is currently the firm’s principal income channel, symbolizing 60pc of the £750,000 turnover and the organization has just signed a offer with an worldwide distributor to offer its assortment of tea in 30 nations globally.
To assist scale the enterprise, We Are Tea has introduced in retail veteran Esom, who is also a former director of M&S, to recommend on method. He has suggested other United kingdom brands, which includes Tyrrells Crisps and Dorset Cereals through his affiliation with Langholm Cash, the midmarket expense firm.
“We signed Steven up in November,” founder Daren Spence advised the News Company. “He is the voice of prospect and the voice of reason.”
Esom mentioned of his appointment as non-government director: “I am thrilled to be portion of the We Are Tea tale. Spence and his group have reached a wonderful offer to day and I feel have the potential to build a sizeable share of the quality, speciality tea marketplace.
“Our fast emphasis shall be on rising our distribution across our foodstuff services and retail channels equally in the United kingdom and abroad.”
The organization is at present searching to elevate £250,000 from armchair traders on the crowdfunding system Crowdcube in trade for 10pc of the company to accelerate development. The funds wil be utilised to increase We Are Tea’s retail sales, launch new items, and tap into export marketplaces.
“We are going to absolutely be contacting Waitrose, for evident causes,” explained Spence.
We Are Tea was introduced in 2010 as a store in Paternoster Square in close proximity to London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. “We discovered almost everything we know about blending the greatest tea from getting a store,” mentioned Spence. “When you are striving out teas on a paying public, they are quick to notify you what works and what will not.”
When the Occupy protesters established up camp outside the house the shop in 2011, Spence ongoing to trade. Even so, after the shop was regularly vandalised, focused by shoplifters, and lastly robbed – “They stole the entire secure a single evening,” he explained – Spence made a decision to hand the keys back to the landlord.
“It was the ideal choice I ever created,” he claimed. “The company has doubled in size 12 months-on-yr given that, and we’re succeeding in our mission to make unfastened leaf tea huge in Britain and about the world after more.”