The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ready meals firm eyes £80m listing
Aready meals company backed by Dundee tech entrepreneur Chris van der Kuyl has announced plans to float on the stock market.
The popularity of Parsley Box, an online meals delivery business aimed at people aged over 60, has boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Van der Kuyl and his business partner Paddy Burns own 4J Studios, which helped turn the Minecraft computer game into a global success.
They invested £1.3 million in Parsley Box in October 2019 when it was delivering 30,000 meals a month.
They provided additional capital in subsequent funding rounds and now own around 15% of the company.
Parsley Box now has monthly sales of 900,000 meals and could be valued at £80m when it floats on the Alternative Investment Market in late March or early April.
It was founded just four years ago by Gordon and Adrienne Macaulay after they could not find a source of ready meals for Gordon’s mother, who lived on her own.
Parsley Box’s meals can be stored at ambient temperature for up to six months.
Mr Van der Kuyl, who is the firm’s non-executive chairman, said the convenience was the main attraction to the firm’s customers.
“Baby boomers feel decades younger than their parents did when they retired and they’re looking for convenience, freeing up time to live life to the fullest,” he said.
“When everybody is looking to serve millennials and the next generation, who is creating a phenomenal brand for these customers? We thought this was the right time, right place.
“The business provides a service that has really helped people in the pandemic and has had fantastic growth. We get fantastic customer feedback.
“We’re entering an exciting new growth phase and have ambitious plans to build a brand that caters for the needs of the original rule-breaker generation.”
The listing comes amid a flurry of London floats for e-commerce businesses, such as Virgin Wines.
Parsley Box plans to offer shares to retail investors as well as institutions, unlike many recent listings.
The firm has added Ana Stewart, who has strong links to Dundee and Fife, to its board as a non-executive director.
She conceived her ATM software business i-design at her Newport kitchen table before setting up in Dundee.
The company sold to US cash machine giant Cardtronics for £8.5m in 2013.
Parsley Box describes its over-60s target market as “underserved, large, growing and wealthy”.
It had revenues of £24.4m last year and an active customer base of around 154,000.
It has a meal range of 60 dishes across various cuisines.
Its product range has been expanded beyond main meals to also include wines, spirits, cakes, deserts and gifts such as chocolates.
Parsley Box said it was “highly scalable” with a “capital-light operating model” due to outsourcing of logistics, manufacturing and delivery.
It said there was significant scope to extend product and category range, which should lead to an increase in average order value.
Mr Van der Kuyl said he would remain invested in Parsley Box after the listing.