After 13-years as a trailblazer in London’s coffee scene, Taylor St Baristas announced on Wednesday the appointment of an Administrator to support the restructure, and potential sale of its coffee business.
The business, founded in 2006 by siblings Andrew, Laura and Nick Tolley, was one of London’s first specialty coffeehouses and a leader of the Antipodean coffee wave that transformed the UK café scene.
Between 2012 and 2015, Taylor St partnered with Tesco plc to develop and operate the Harris + Hoole chain of specialty coffee shops, launching over 50 sites in three years and 3-times winning the coveted industry award for Best Coffee Chain in the UK and Ireland.
More recently, the business commenced a shift in strategy away from owning and operating cafes, focusing instead on the development of its partnership and wholesale businesses, working with both large multinational clients and local specialist operators to grow their specialty coffee programs.
As part of this strategy, the business recently undertook the sale of 8 of its own cafes – along with a license to operate the cafes under the Taylor St brand.
However, following a strategic review of Taylor St’s finances, the directors have concluded that the highly leveraged capital structure of the business is no longer sustainable and have appointed an Administrator accordingly.
“Sadly, Taylor St’s carrying too much debt, which has affected our ability to raise new capital to support the ongoing development of the business,” Nick Tolley noted in a statement.
Tolley added, “Whilst the underlying fundamentals of the business remain strong – and our customers and wholesale clients continue to love and engage with the brand – we’ve simply been unable to overcome a balance sheet that’s carrying too much debt.”
“As founders, we’ll do everything we can to support Taylor St’s licensees and partners and ensure no interruption to our customers and people through this administration process.”