Funds to support new city centre restaurant and refurbish existing outlets.
The Birmingham-headquartered Handmade Burger Company has received a £600,000 cash injection from Finance Birmingham to support the fit out of its latest restaurant in Grand Central, the city’s newest retail and leisure destination, due to open in the autumn. The funds will also see the business refurbish two of its existing outlets in Brindleyplace and Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull later this year.
The company’s new restaurant in Grand Central will be its largest to date with a 200-seat capacity. It is expected to create 19 new jobs when it opens in late September.
The deal will also see Handmade refurbish two of its existing restaurants at Brindleyplace in Birmingham City Centre and Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull. The work on these outlets is due to be complete by the end of the year.
The BrindleyPlace restaurant was the national brand’s very first restaurant and opened in 2006. Following its success, the Touchwood restaurant opened the following year and the company now has 23 restaurants open across the UK.
Clive Broadhurst, Investment Director at Finance Birmingham, said: “Handmade Burger Company is a true example of how the Midlands creates and supports entrepreneurial businesses. From a single family-run restaurant in Birmingham in 2006, the company has grown to a national brand with an incredibly loyal following.
“This funding deal will allow the business to realise ambitions to open in the UK’s newest premiere leisure destination at Grand Central in Birmingham. It’s a homecoming of sorts, but one that marks the beginning of a new period of growth for a company on the up.”
The investment from Finance Birmingham’s £9 million Regional Growth Fund will allow the business to build on current success and secure the first stage of wider expansion plans. The company’s owner, Chris Sargeant, said: “Our ambitions were first brought to life in Birmingham so it is fitting that our growth continues to be fuelled by the city that has long supported us.
“Finance Birmingham took the time to understand our business, growth plans and the speed at which our industry moves. They are an agile and highly experienced team that have allowed us to make huge strides in our nationwide expansion plans in a short space of time, starting in the Midlands with a prime site in the city’s Grand Central Station.”
