A specialist tea merchant who sources rare and unusual varieties of the beverage has opened a cafe in the city with the help of a finance provider.
The Estate Tea Company was launched in 2014 by Tom Webb, following a project he worked on while studying at Northumbria University. The company works with single estate tea growers in countries including India, Japan, China, Sri Lanka and Taiwan as well as blending its own variations of popular brews.
Having opened a café in Gateshead, Mr Webb relocated to larger premises in Heaton, Newcastle, converting a former plumbers’ merchant. Having been declined funding from a high street bank, he turned to not-for-profit Finance For Enterprise for the funding needed to upgrade its kitchen equipment and refurbish the empty space.
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Since completing the work, the Estate Tea Bar has seen its workforce increase from four members of staff to 12. Mr Webb hopes in the future to open a number of small satellite cafés across the North East as well as building his network of independent tea growers from around the world.
Tom Webb, founder, the Estate Tea Company, said: “My idea was to create a Japanese-inspired bar that offered a selection of small dishes that can be enjoyed as a snack while socialising or used to create a meal by combining several dishes. It’s a different experience to a traditional bar. I knew that financial support would be needed, and having previously secured funding from my bank, I felt confident that they would support our plans.
“Following various lengthy and frustrating conversations with call centres, the bank told me they couldn’t support the business. The experience left me feeling very frustrated and puzzled. I began searching the Internet, and after reading about some of the businesses Finance For Enterprise had helped, I decided to reach out and see if they could help my company to secure the funds I needed. To my surprise, rather than dealing with a call centre, I was given a point of contact in the organisation. Jeremy took time to get to know my business and understand our future plans. He visited our premises, and within a relatively short period of time, he called me to advise that my application had been successful.
“Since opening the bar, we’ve been able to increase our trading hours and create several new jobs within the business. This has also helped us to expand our blending facilities, and since working with Finance For Enterprise, the number of businesses that stock our tea range has increased from approximately 50 customers to nearly 80. As well as growing the business further, the support received from Finance For Enterprise has given us the confidence to explore new ways of expanding the business further in the future.”
Jeremy Meadowcroft, business lending manager at Finance For Enterprise, said: “Tom is an extremely driven and motivated entrepreneur who spotted a gap in the market, and today he and his team at Estate Tea are helping to bring some of the rarest and unusual types of tea to the North East, which are now being enjoyed by his customers across the UK.
“The current economic climate has seen many banks tighten their lending criteria, and in Tom’s case this left him with the paradox of needing additional funding to grow his business but unable to source the financial help he needed, leaving him with empty space that couldn’t be utilised. At Finance For Enterprise we judge every lending application on its own merits.”
Finance for Enterprise, which is based in Doncaster, provides business loans up to £250,000 and is a delivery partner for the Government-backed Recovery Loan Scheme, as well as being a fund manager for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
