Vagabond, the London-based wine bar business, has received £3.5m of growth capital investment from Imbiba.
Founded in 2010 by Stephen Finch as a relaxed bar with informal wine tasting, the business has developed fives sites across London with a sixth site to open in October 2018. Generating impressive financial returns and strong customer loyalty, the investment from Imbiba will be used to open new Vagabond venues across the UK.
Vagabond sources the majority of wines direct from producers, enabling customers to taste and experience some of the best wines in the UK market today.
With its pioneering in-house urban winery at Battersea Power Station, Vagabond produces critically and commercially successful English wines while allowing customers to gain firsthand experience of the winemaking process.
The brand's bespoke self-serve wine dispensers enable customers to trial 100+ wines by the sample or the glass to make it easy and fun to discover new wines and create a great in-venue experience.
Paired with an impressive line-up of highly trained and passionate wine advisors, it provides an unbeatable interactive wine experience.
With a great food menu and a growing wholesale distribution model, Vagabond has a competitive edge in the UK market.
“We are delighted to be working with Vagabond,” confirmed Imbiba Chairman, John Connell. ‘Within the UK hospitality market, Vagabond is seen as a differentiated and focused business model that provides consumers with a high-quality, superior range at an accessible price point.
'It’s a highly scalable business with industry leading site performance metrics and we look forward to supporting Stephen and the management team with their growth plans across all elements of the business.”
Vagabond founder and Managing Director, Stephen Finch, commented, “Imbiba was the obvious partner to help us fulfill our ambitions for Vagabond. They have unparalleled sector experience, a ridiculously strong track record and, perhaps most compellingly, an investment team that genuinely understands the operational intricacies of a leisure business.”
Wine remains the fastest growing drinks sector in the UK, with consumers aged between 18 and 35 with higher incomes and a growing interest in wine now accounting for almost a third of the total spend on wine in the UK (source: UK Alcohol Industry Report 2017.)
The growing millennial market views wine as a social drink and are most likely to buy wine in the on-trade, accounting for 29% of its volume and 40% of its value. Vagabond is now in a strong position to develop and grow their share of the market with this support and backing from Imbiba.
