Specialist tea retailer Whittard aims to win a bigger share of a global market worth £90bn in sales.

More than a century ago, Whittard was established to bring tea to Britain.

After 130 years of trading, it is embarking on a mission to take English tea to the world.

After the business brew stewed – Whittard went into administration in 2008 and was subsequently bought by private equity house Epic – the retailer, which generates sales of £30m and has 50 branches is once again warming the pot for a fresh infusion.

It plans expansion abroad, where it is in talks with potential partners, and at home, where it is on the hunt for a new flagship.

New relevance

Chief executive Mark Dunhill, who joined in 2014 from TM Lewin where he was international director, has refreshed Whittard by going back to its roots.

In the year of its administration, tea sales had slipped to account for only about 8% of the total. Today the proportion is close to 50%.

“There’s this idea of connoisseurship and knowledge, rather than accumulating stuff”

Mark Dunhill, Whittard

Whittard had lost sight of its purpose. “It had morphed into a high street gifting retailer of cheap pasta bowls and tea was forgotten at the back of the store,” says Dunhill. “We’d become irrelevant to the affluent consumer.”

Tea – and Whittard’s other traditional staples coffee and cocoa – now take centre stage and are showcased at London’s Covent Garden branch.

Whittard Tea Bar

Whittard Tea Bar

Whittard’s first Tea Bar was opened last year in Covent Garden, London

The store was extended last summer to include Whittard’s first Tea Bar, which is likely to play a central role in the future as consumers increasingly seek out the experiential as well as products.

Premium offer, wellbeing and Englishness

Dunhill says Whittard is well positioned to exploit three factors that play well globally – a premium offering, wellbeing and the appeal of Englishness.

“Consumers are willing to spend a little more to enhance their lives – you see that with things like the popularity of artisan bakers,” Dunhill says.

“There’s this idea of connoisseurship and knowledge, rather than accumulating stuff.”

To the desire for the special and the experiential, add the wellbeing trend which means that Whittard is finding new resonance with “millennials and their mums”, who are increasingly turning to teas “with associations with a healthy lifestyle.” Sales of such types, for instance green tea, are outperforming.

Layer on top enjoyment of the English afternoon tea experience. Once perhaps associated with genteel ladies, it has been given a contemporary twist in Whittard’s Tea Bar.

Taking tea to China

In the same way as British consumers now drink exotic teas such as the retailer’s Garden Party Oolong, people overseas are buying into the ceremony of English afternoon tea.

“If you went to Shanghai you’d find people having tea and a tiered stand of cakes – it’s a phenomenon out there,” says Dunhill.

“We’ve started having conversations with the right sort of people to partner with around the world in markets that are scaleable”

“With our 130-year heritage and the way we’re expressing our personality, friendly and approachable – staff are encouraged to be friendly fanatics rather than snobby and condescending – we think we’re perfectly placed to capitalise.”

Whittard already wholesales to 35 countries, sells in China through Alibaba’s Tmall and has small franchise operations in Chile and the Czech Republic. It is now in talks with potential partners to take its retail and Tea Bar format overseas.

“We’ve started having conversations with the right sort of people to partner with around the world in markets that are scaleable,” says Dunhill. He hopes branches will open next year.

He also aims to add to the 50 locations from which Whittard trades in the UK and sees the opportunity to open a kiosk format in transport hubs such as railway stations.

Whittard Covent Garden store

Whittard store – wellbeing

Whittard is finding new resonance with “millennials and their mums”, who are increasingly turning to teas associated with a healthy lifestyle

And the retailer aims to find a central London premises that will showcase how it has changed. “Next year is the time we’ve earmarked to look for a flagship in the heart of the West End, a great place that allows us to do all we want to do,” Dunhill says.

Since joining Whittard, Dunhill says, “the focus has been to revitalise the complete brand proposition – product, store concept, identity”.

That work now substantially done, he feels Whittard can be the consumers’ cup of tea once again in a market worth £90bn of sales globally.