Honest Burgers closes crowdfund after raising nearly £3m

Casual dining chain Honest Burgers has closed its crowdfunding campaign after raising almost £3m.

The restaurant group had set a £1m target but raised £2,905,631 from 3,456 investors.

Honest Burgers, which was founded in 2011 and now operates 40 sites, plans to use the funds to open further restaurants and launch a new quick-service burger concept based around its smashed burger, which cooks in less than two minutes.

Existing investor Active Partners had already provided £1m to back the concept, which plans to open its first site in London in early 2024.

Honest Burgers' founders Tom Barton and Philip Eeles said they wanted to "challenge the big guys" in the market with the launch.

"It's exciting to take the brand to the next level with an ambitious plan to open more Honest restaurants, building our presence in regional cities as well as London," Frank Hayes, chief executive of Honest Burgers, said of their plans.

Honest Burgers serves 80,000 burgers and 30 tonnes of homemade chips every week and is on track to record sales of £55m in 2023.

The business has its own butchery that creates patties for its burgers and has launched an Honest Farming initiative to redesign the beef supply chain by working directly with regenerative farms who focus on promoting soil health, biodiversity and carbon capture.

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