Diet Chef tops Virgin fast track 100

Leading delivered diet company, Diet Chef, has been ranked as one of Britain’s fastest growing private companies in The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table. Diet Chef was a new entry at number three, following growth of 229% from an annualised £334,000 in 2008 to £11.9m in 2011. Founded in 2007 by Kevin

Piper invests £8m in Be At One

Piper has taken a significant minority stake in Be At One, the highly successful cocktail bar operator. Be At One was founded by Steve Locke, Rhys Oldfield and Leigh Miller, three former bartenders who worked together at TGI Fridays in the 1990s. The trio spotted a gap in the market to produce the finest range

Piper defies retail gloom

Piper, a leading private equity firm specialising in consumer brands with strong growth potential, has exceeded the £80m target of its fifth fund and has capped external investors at £100m at its final close. Due to unprecedented demand, Piper V, launched in November 2010, reached its first close of £90m in just two months. A

Piper hosts 7th networking lunch

Piper hosted its seventh networking lunch to discuss the challenges of ’Managing Rapid Growth in an Entrepreneurial Business’. Among the guests were the founders of a number of dynamic clothing and accessories companies, while the speaker was Peter Higgins, current chairman of Joe Browns. Higgins, who previously ran Cath Kidston and Charles Tyrwhitt, shared many

Bottlegreen achieves 5x multiple

Piper has sold its majority shareholding in Bottlegreen Holdings Limited, the UK’s premium adult soft drinks business, to SHS, the Northern Irish-based food group achieving a 5x multiple on its four year investment. Since Piper’s £5m investment in 2007, Bottlegreen has become an iconic brand stocked by all the major UK multiples with a fast-growing

Adam Balon joins advisory panel

Piper Private Equity, a specialist in small to middle market consumer brands, is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Balon to its Advisory Panel. Adam is co-founder of Innocent Drinks, Britain’s number one smoothie brand. The business, started in May 1999, turned over more than £100m in 2009, selling over two million smoothies a

The Rug Company Beirut franchise

With the opening of its latest franchise in Beirut The Rug Company continues its international expasion. Two more company owned stores are due to open shortly in the US – in Dallas and Chicago.

£3m of growth funding to Diet Chef

Piper Private Equity has provided £3m growth funding to Diet Chef, the UK’s leading home delivered diet company. Diet Chef was founded in 2007 and has seen rapid growth achieving over £5m of sales in 2009 and is forecast to double in size year on year. With over 60% of adults in UK being either