We have walked in founders’ shoes
Starting as founders ourselves, we have lived and breathed entrepreneurial brands for 35 years. From founding the Pitcher & Piano brand in the 90s to investing in over 40 brands, we’ve gained an understanding of the challenges of growing brands that consumers love.
We are a team of brand, digital and people experts
Our in-house team of brand & marketing, digital strategy & ecommerce, and team building & culture experts add value well above other investors and helps our partner brands stay ahead of the competition. Our support helps founders focus on what they do best: growing their business.
We build global brand legends
We have grown over 50 global brands across 70 countries. During our investment, international sales have increased by over £300m and we have opened more than 50 stores, restaurants and bars. Our partner brands benefit from our trusted network of global partners and a database of over 100 international experts, including more than 50 franchise partners and distributors.
We create brands people love
For us, real value lies in a brand’s strength, not just its balance sheet. Through our obsession in putting the customer at the heart of all decision-making, we take pride in creating ‘sticky’ brands loved by both consumers and employees. By doing so, we build businesses that thrive well beyond our partnership. We live and breathe brands. We love the excitement of a brand mission, seeing the vision through the eyes of the founders and hearing their story echoed through customers’ words.
We grow brands sustainably
We believe in growing brands that have sustainability at their core and in empowering leaders to put their team and the environment at the heart of the growth. In our experience, this creates future-proofed brands that flourish way beyond our investment. Growing sustainable brands runs through everything we do. From the first time we speak to founders, through our due diligence and the lifetime of our investment, sustainability is at the heart of what we do with regards to people, the environment and leadership.
We are part of a community that supports our brands
We build industry-leading teams by tapping into our unrivalled network of more than 5,000 founders, CEOs, Chairmen, online and offline business growth experts, some of whom are investors in our fund. Our relationship with the founder community helps us keep track of best practice. Annually, we host more than 200 entrepreneurs in our quarterly entrepreneur Founders’ Collectives skills sharing meet-ups and digital/ecommerce focused round-table GeekMeets.
We invest our own money and of those we’ve backed
As a small and committed team, we invest a significant chunk of our own money in our funds, so we’re fully focused on making every investment a success. We are also proud that a large amount of our money comes from founders who have successfully grown and sold their own brands, including those we have previously backed.
We get the best value for your brand
Our deep knowledge of the potential strategic buyers of consumer brands means we understand the way that brands need to grow to be attractive to them. We are more flexible than other investors on who we sell to and how long we stay invested. Together we pick the best option for the management team and the brand.
The Piper team have long been supporters of our business… Their skills will be invaluable in helping us to fulfil our ambition of being the world’s most loved flower gifting brand.
Their passion to understand our sector inside and out, investing time into understanding our brand, really pulling out where we can be better and different, set them apart from other investors in this space.
Piper was our first choice when looking for an investment to drive our brand to the next level, and we are delighted to be working with their team. It’s a difficult time for the travel sector, but thanks to Piper’s expertise, patience and always thoughtful approach The Thinking Traveller has a very bright future indeed.
I thought they were brilliant. It’s the first time I have worked in a PE funded business. Their attitude and contribution was pretty much the antithesis to what one fears a PE relationship could be like.
They really wanted to understand the business as quickly as they could. It’s not surprising that they have been successful. They are so diligent, they really think about things.
I can call them at any time of night and day and they are always happy to talk, they really are part of the business, rather than people who dip in and out and just want to see results.
They really want to learn about everything rather than just direct. They seem to really want to add value to the business, rather than just have an opinion round the board table.
The investment and expertise that Piper bring to our business will help us to bring healthy eating to many more consumers in the UK and enable us to accelerate our growth ambitions for the brand next year and beyond.