Mr & Mrs Smith launch Crowdfund campaign

Luxury boutique travel business Mr & Mrs Smith, has announced a major crowdfunding campaign.

Fifteen years after it first shook up the boutique-hotel scene, the ‘travel club for hotel lovers’ is planning to dramatically extend the size and scope of its customer offering, supported by at least £1m of investment raised through crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.

Mr & Mrs Smith will be inviting its members and fans of the company to invest and become shareholders as it embarks on overseas expansion, in a campaign set to run from 11 September – the first time in its history that the company has made equity in the business available to the public.

The capital raised will unlock new growth ambitions for the company as it embarks on a period of rapid scale – total transaction value has increased 22% from £51.8m to £63.5m year on year to June 2018, whereas booked revenue has risen by 35%, from £7.9m to £10.6m.

The crowdfunding campaign is expected to be one of the largest conducted on Crowdcube, given Mr & Mrs Smith has a 15-year track record of growth and strong performance.

The Crowdcube investment will be used to accelerate the development of Smith’s already fast-growing US market; increase the rate at new hotels and villas are introduced to the collection (without compromising the exacting curation standards for which Smith has
become globally renowned); and establish Mr & Mrs Smith SideStories, a new part of the company focused on providing its members with highly original cultural experiences to enrich their travels.

The fundraise offers a unique opportunity to invest in one of the quintessential British business success stories. Since it was founded in 2003 by husband-and-wife team James and Tamara Lohan, Mr & Mrs Smith has become one of the world’s leading resources for
discerning travellers looking for luxury boutique hotel and villa experiences.

Tamara Lohan, co-founder of Mr & Smith, said: “We want to inspire our members to discover extraordinary places with the people they love, and we’re hugely proud of the fact we have over 1.5 million members across the world. That’s why we want to invite investors and our members to buy a share of the company and help us reach our full potential.”

Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, commented: “Mr & Mrs Smith is an iconic British brand and an entrepreneurial success story. We’re delighted that the team at Mr & Mrs Smith have chosen Crowdcube to support this crowdfunding campaign, which we expect will be the start of a new and exciting chapter for the company.”