On Thursday 17th October we hosted a special event to mark a record start to the financial year and the opening of our second office in Pershore, with Deputy Mayor, Councillor Julie Hemming in attendance, along with key suppliers, customers and strategic partners.
Founded in 2007, we are the UK’s leading supplier of pop-up shops and kiosks. A small, independent, family-run company working with sporting venues, retailers and visitor attractions across the UK and Europe, including Premier League clubs and household names such as Co-op, Silverstone, Wembley and Woburn Safari Park.
Recent high profile projects have included the supply of a large temporary club shop for Newcastle United, for use while its onsite store undergoes refurbishment. We also supplied numerous kiosks and pop-up shops for use during the Paris Olympics and provided merchandising units for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour dates in Paris and Lyon.
Nick Daffern, Rapid Retail founder and CEO, commented: “It was a pleasure to be joined by the Deputy Mayor, and so many of our valued partners, for the official opening of our new offices.
“We may be a small team but we have a big reach and we have just recorded the most successful half yearly results in our 20-year history. That’s down to the quality of our team and services, and the strong relationships we continue to build with our customers, who return to us time and again.”
Rapid Retail turned over £2.5M last financial year and is on track to hit £4M in its current year, with a target of reaching £6M by 2026.
In December 2023, the company closed a £1.5 million investment round, led by Capital for Colleagues, who have also overseen the introduction of an Employee Ownership Trust, with an interest in 5% of the company’s issued equity capital.
The cash injection has been used to finance the long term, sustainable supply of Rapid Retail’s rental units, both in the UK and abroad. The rental market remains the fastest growing source of revenue for the company.
Nick continued: “Covid was a very challenging time for the business, with our main markets, such as sports and live entertainment, put on hold. Things were touch and go for a while, but due to our fantastic clients and team we managed to weather the storm and have bounced back even stronger.
“With the backing of some fantastic new investors, we’re now able to accelerate our growth plans, expanding into new premises and taking on new people. Moving forwards, we have a strong pipeline and plans to expand rapidly through Europe.”
He added: “The beauty of pop-up shops is their cost-effectiveness and versatility. Every unit we supply is fully branded, self-contained and highly secure. They are a tried and tested solution for maximising sales opportunities in high footfall areas and we look forward to helping even more brands capitalise on that.”
