Sir Juiced

FINANCIAL SQUEEZE CREATES NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR SIR JUICED

Foundation East loan helps juice bar earn its bread and butter

 
Surviving a downturn in business often requires an ability to reinvent yourself to exploit new opportunities. Entrepreneurs Daniel Hill and Andrew Lees gained some timely help from community finance organisation Foundation East which has enabled them to grow a successful catering business from its smoothie and juice bar origins.
 
Daniel first set up Sir Juiced in 2006 following a trip to Australia and New Zealand where he was blown away by the success of juice bars which he saw doing a fantastic trade:
 
“Healthy drinks are really popular in Australia and New Zealand and I realised there was a niche for healthy drinks and snacks in Britain.
 
“So my friend Lewis Mace and I set up our first smoothie and juice bar at the Meridian Business Park in Norwich, with the help of a small bank loan. Our main customers were employees on the business park, but we soon started expanding our trade to music festivals and other events up and down the country.”
 
After a year, Daniel and Lewis had started selling food, including pitta bread, sandwiches and bagels. They were even hosting educational events at schools where they would demonstrate how to make smoothies and give the children the chance to try them.
 
In 2007, Lewis moved away and Daniel found a new business partner – Andrew Lees – who invested in the company, which then became Sir Juiced Catering Ltd.
 
Soon Daniel and Andrew had bought another trailer and business was doing well. But almost immediately the country-wide recession set in.
 
Daniel said: “Businesses on the Meridian Business Park were closing down and we were losing trade. People didn’t have money to spend. On top of this, the council refused us permission to put up signs advertising our company. It was like everything was against us.
 
“With young families to support we had to start thinking outside the box.”
 
So Andrew and Daniel decided to buy two Jiffy refrigerated vans to expand their business so they could take on sandwich delivery rounds and deliver buffets. This was successful and Sir Juiced now offers corporate buffets and entertainment events.
 
However, the new sections of the business became so successful that they soon needed a base to prepare the extra food and drinks needed. So they found a great unit in the centre of town with more room and better facilities.
 
Approaches to banks for funding were unsuccessful, so the pair turned to Foundation East for help, as Daniel explains:
 
“The banks were so unhelpful. They just weren’t interested in helping us.
 
“So we approached Foundation East. They were more than happy to help us. They were brilliant. Valerie Jarrett, our business loans manager at Foundation East was great. She gave us advice about the day to day running of the operation and how we should be thinking.”
 
Foundation East is a membership society that provides small business loans up to £50k for businesses with a viable business plan that have been refused bank finance. Business loans manager Valerie Jarrett was impressed by Andrew and Daniel’s versatility.
 
“Unlike other lending organisations, Foundation East doesn’t use a computerised credit scoring system to decide when to loan money. Sir Juiced had a good business plan and cash-flow analysis and the owner-managers clearly understood their customers and the market opportunities. I was able to take this into account when I recommended their application to the loans panel.
 
“I am delighted to see them go from strength to strength. All businesses receive knocks especially in the early days and it shows character to take stock and adapt to new opportunities.”
 
Sir juiced has used the £10,000 loan from Foundation East went towards buying a Jiffy van and fitting out the inside of a former unit in the Norwich Fish Market. The unit is now used for food and drink preparation.
 
The loan has allowed the company to diversify which will make it more sustainable.
Around half of Sir Juiced’s day-to-day business now comes from buffets, of which they do approximately 20 per week. The other half comes from daily sandwich deliveries to around 60 local businesses. During their rounds they also offer a vending service to clients, including water coolers and coffee machines.
 
They also still have trailers at large events and are even creating their own entertainment events for clients at which they can sell their products. The company has taken on more staff including Andrew’s mum Janet who assists them in the business.
 
Daniel explains:
 
“As the recession has hit, we have had to think of new ways to get round the problems it has faced us with.
 
“Thanks to the business loan from Foundation East we have managed to do this by expanding into new areas.”
 
For more information, go to http://www.sirjuicedcatering.com/