Gary Usher raises over £123,000 in first 12 hours of crowdfund

Elite Bistros’ first equity-based crowdfund has raised 16% of its total in the first 12 hours, raising over £123,000 of a £750,000 target from 287 investors.

The crowdfunding drive on Seedrs launched yesterday evening and £120,000 was raised in just three hours, offering 3.61% equity with a share price of £4.17, valuing the company at £20m.

Usher posted on Twitter that it was an “intense start”, adding: “I would like to thank every single person that pledged & everyone that shared the message on here. Long way to go so fingers crossed!”

Usher is no stranger to crowdfunding, having raised £744,796 between 2015 and 2021 (exceeding the set target every time) to grow to six bistros and an events company, all offering approachable, affordable, quality modern bistro food. He now employs 150 people and the business has an annual turnover of £6m.

"We've been so lucky with the crowdfund on the Kickstarter platform. Essentially, we've been selling products in exchange for money, which has helped us open new places. But every time we've done that, we've had to finance equipment and try to make other deals. We couldn't have done it without the crowdfund because that enabled us to secure finance, but obviously opening a restaurant is a lot more expensive than people might think. So, the next natural progression is to get involved with something like Crowdcube, which is equity-based," Usher told The Caterer earlier this year.

In addition to acquiring the group's first pub, the White Horse in Churton, Cheshire, the business has plans for a new tapas concept, Joya, for which Usher is looking at two sites. He is also developing the first floor of Deva House, his Elite Bistro Events headquarters in Chester, which will house a development and masterclass kitchen, and where he also plans to film promotional videos to showcase new dishes on social media.

Elite Bistros' sites include Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Chester, the first solo restaurant for Usher, which opened in 2011; Burnt Truffle in Heswall on the Wirral, which opened in July 2015; Hispi in Didsbury, south Manchester; Wreckfish in Liverpool; Pinion in Prescot; and Kala in Manchester, which opened in 2019. All sites apart from Sticky Walnut were crowdfunded.

Last year, the group crowdfunded the launch of an event catering business and Usher was named winner of the Restaurateur of the Year – Independent Award at the Cateys.