Drinks-focused firm toasts BGF boost
● Capital-based MRM Global nets £2.6m to help drive overseas expansion
An Edinburgh-based firm providing marketing technology to the global drinks and hospitality sector has netted a £2.6 million investment from Business Growth Fund (BGF), saying this will enable it to hire, and catalyse its global growth.
MRM Global says its technology platform lets global drinks manufacturers and wholesalers significantly boost the level of marketing support they provide to their independent hospitality and retail customers. Its Brand Creator app is describ ed as enabling sales reps and customers to create on-demand marketing materials that increase brand visibility and product sales.
MRM also said that in the last three years, it has expanded to more than 34 countries, and it works with world-leading spirits and beer brands.
The sum from BGF – which says it is UK and Ireland’s most active investor – will be used to fund further global growth wi t h a f o c u s o n ex p a n d i n g M R M ’s p r e s e n c e i n No r t h Ame r i c a whe r e i t s ays i t i s seeing strong traction due to its technolog y’s “disruptive” nature. MRM will recruit a
lo cal team in the US to sup - p or t its customers, develop new business and expand its print partner network.
The firm also aims to invest heavily in the development of its technology platform with plans to triple the size of its E d i n b u rg h - b a s e d s o f t wa r e engineering team. Its plans include the fur ther develop - ment of a digital creator module, which was developed and launched during the coronavirus pandemic to help hospitality outlets adapt to the new trading environment.
MRM chief executive Craig Letton said the major impact Covid-19 has had on the hospitalit y industr y means the firm’s mission has never been more crucial. He said: “MRM has grown rapidly over the last few years… In 2019, we doubled the size of our business in both revenue and headcount, which was a real challenge for a business that has been bootstrapped since day one.
“We realised that if we really wanted to achieve our vision of supporting as many customers as possible, we needed to take on growth capital. More than just the capital, we wanted to bring on board an investor that shared our vision and values, with the exper tise to help us scale.”
Euan Baxter, an investor at B GF who joins the board of MRM, said: “This partnership has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to back a disruptive and high-growth technology business that is changi n g t h e w a y g l o b a l d r i n k s brands drive visibilit y at the point of purchase.
“Despite the hospitality sector being negatively impacted by Covid-19, we are committed to backing companies in this space that have marketleading solutions and a clear opp or tunit y to drive share - holder value. We believe MRM has a clear growth opportunity in front of it, underpinned by strong customer demand, and we look forward to extending its reach even further.”
MRM h a s a l s o a p p o i n t e d drinks industry veteran Andy F e n n e l l a s n o n - e x e c u t i v e chairman. He spent 18 years at Diageo where he was president of Smirnoff, global chief marketing officer and, latterly, president of Diageo Africa.
T h e d e a l , d e l i ve r e d f r o m BGF’S Edinburgh office, is its third new investment since l o c k d o w n a n d f o l l o w s i t investing £2.7m into Stirlingbased firm The Paint Shed.
“We realised that if we really wanted to achieve our vision of supporting as many customers as possible, we needed to take on growth capital.”
MRM CEO CRAIG LETTON