Boxpark’s profits jump as pop-up venue targets UK expansion
Boxpark reported a jump in profit last year as the pop-up shipping container venue sets its sights on expansion outside of London.
The food and retail operator – which launched in Shoreditch in 2011 – said net profit was up 22 per cent to £1.6m and turnover soared 58 per cent to £12.5m in the year to the end of April, driven by the opening of a new site in Wembley.
The company – which also has a venue in Croydon – is planning to open two sites a year for the next five years, with further details set to be announced this spring, as it aims to have a Boxpark in every major UK city.
Boxpark is also close to securing a deal with an investor to help it drive the expansion plans forward after appointing KPMG as an advisor in September last year.
Chief executive Roger Wade said the firm was in final talks with a preferred candidate ahead of the spring announcement.
Boxpark is planning to launch different formats, such as smaller “Boxhalls” in London and “Boxoffices” – which will incorporate office space – outside of the capital, as the company takes on its growing competition.
Shipping container venues have popped up across the country since Boxpark’s launch, with Pop Brixton, Stack Newcastle and Spark York among a number of imitators.
“I’m quite excited by change, the market is looking to replicate things we have done, but we are moving ahead,” Wade told City PM
He added: “People try to make retail quite complex but the fundamentals are the same … to understand the psychology of the customer. The need I particularly address is the need for the customer to feel special and have a sense of community.”