Sun 27th Dec 2015 - Red’s True Barbecue secures £9m investment Red’s True Barbecue secures £9m investment: Red’s True Barbecue has secured a £9m investment deal, securing its aggressive roll-out plans. The majority debt deal also comprises a secondary round of equity investment from its original handpicked panel of industry leaders, including veteran Ian Neill, Maurice Abboudi (K10), non-executive board members Brandon Stephens (Tortilla), Stephen Wall (Pho) and Aarish Patel, and retail entrepreneur Sunny Gill. The US barbecue restaurant, which already has six successful sites has committed to opening a further eight to ten smokehouses over the next two years. This is the second funding deal in a year struck between Santander and the barbecue brand. Red’s previously secured a £5m debt and equity investment arrangement to support its 2015 expansion including the opening of its Nottingham, Shoreditch and Liverpool restaurants. Scott Munro, co-founder of Red’s True Barbecue, said: “The UK’s prayers for more places to worship authentic US barbecue has been answered! As BBQ evangelists we’re delighted the appetite for this food trend is still as hungry as it was when we opened our first site in Leeds in 2012. Santander has been a great partner and this is a chance for us to forge a solid relationship as we move forward. We’re stoked our original equity investors have shown commitment once again, and demonstrates the strength of the Red’s business. Their wealth of experience is invaluable and has provided great insight and guidance this year. The pipeline for 2016 is already shored up with four fantastic sites in legals allowing us to spread the good gospel of true barbecue to around 100,000 believers each month, and positioning us as clear brand leaders in the sector.” Earlier this year the company successfully launched its own range of BBQ sauces and rubs nationwide into Asda and Sainsbury’s whilst its debut recipe book, Let There Be Meat, was a Sunday Times Best Seller. The business was recently shortlisted as Ones To Watch by the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 programme, having grown sales to £7.1m in 2014. Addleshaw Goddard and Bond Dickinson performed the legal work on the debt facility for Red’s and Santander respectively and due diligence was conducted by KPMG in Leeds.