The Gentlemen Baristas story

A London based British start up speciality coffee

A quintessential British start up coffee company preparing for global launch

When it first came to our attention, The Gentlemen Baristas (TGB) was a quintessential British start up – it had a great brand and a great product, but was poorly managed and struggling to expand beyond its first two sites. Sisban was looking for a coffee company to add to its brand portfolio and we understood the industry trends towards specialty coffee and personalised service – we quickly recognised that TGB ticked these boxes.

We carried out in depth due diligence on TGBs and negotiated favourable investment terms with its founders whereby all our cash would be invested in business expansion. Having become 50% partners, we first set about helping TGB to stabilise its existing operations so they formed a solid foundation for the business to grow.

We identified areas of operational weakness and fixed them, including bringing the previous contract roasting in-house which improved product range, quality and reliability, as well as increasing margins. We secured prime new sites on favourable lease terms and then used our project management expertise to have them fitted out professionally and cost effectively. We used our experience to help TGB attract, retain and incentivise quality staff and we worked with the founders to strengthen their brand story and customer proposition.

Cuisine

Cafe

Founded

2015

Location

London

Remarkable Impacts

TGB is a specialty coffee busines that sources all its coffee beans responsibly and takes care to make sure its suppliers are all environmentally conscious. Through the growth in its roasting and wholesale business TGB will purchase ever increasing amounts of raw green beans and this will have positive impact on coffee production globally.

TGB is a traditional coffee “house” as opposed to a coffee chain shop, where people are encouraged to come together and socialise or discuss the issues of the day or business. Promoting this friendly and slightly old fashioned social environment will have an impact in bringing communities together and promoting social harmony.

As it expands, TGB will provide multiple new employment opportunities, particularly for younger people, across the whole UK and potentially abroad as well. These will not be just traditional F&B sector jobs such as in kitchens or waiting tables, but also training for skills such as working as baristas or coffee blenders and roasters.

ALI AL-SHAREEF, GROUP CEO OF SISBAN SAYS:

“In less than 18 months since Sisban’s investment, TGB has doubled its wholesale volumes and grown to ten retail sites in London. Post Covid, we are now planning the next phase of TGB’s expansion, including entertaining many requests to franchise the brand overseas.”