Pop-up retail property specialist Boxpark posts profits rise

Boxpark’s net profit climbed 22% to £1.6m last year, when turnover increased 58% to £12.5m, City AM reported. Performance was helped by the opening of a new location in Wembley.

Boxpark has ambitions to open two premises per year for the next five years and hopes to build a presence in every big UK city.

The business is also close to securing further investment to support its expansion plans after appointing advisor KPMG last autumn.

Boxpark founder and chief executive Roger Wade said he was in negotiations with a preferred investor and hoped to conclude a deal in the spring.

Boxpark, which at present has branches including London’s Shoreditch and Croydon, intends to pilot new formats, such as smaller ‘Boxhalls’ and ‘Boxoffices’.

Boxpark pioneered the use of shipping containers to host eateries and shops, a model that has since been deployed by other operators.

Wade told City AM: “I’m quite excited by change. The market is looking to replicate things we have done, but we are moving ahead.”

He said: “People try to make retail quite complex, but the fundamentals are the same … to understand the psychology of the customer. The need I particularly address is the need for the customer to feel special and have a sense of community.”