M Restaurants: Creating a community of investors

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 04 October, 2016

M Restaurants set Twitter alight yesterday as its crowd funding campaign to raise funds for a new Twickenham restaurant took off on social media.

In just under four hours, the chain racked up over half its fundraising target - an impressive £900,000: a large proportion of which has been made up by investments of between the £200 minimum and £1,000.

This is exactly what founder and CEO Martin Williams was hoping for.

As reflected in the title of its M Social sites in London, the former Gaucho boss wanted to create of community of customers who could buy into the brand - and bring their family and friends along too.

"We wanted to create a sense of belonging. In the past we've always gone through private investors where the majority invest six figures. We wanted to make the new Twickenham site accessible for the same people in the restaurants," he said.

As well enabling customers to invest in and therefore literally belong to the business, Williams believes enhancing the dining experience in this way fits in with what customers expect from eating out.

He added: "We've built up a community of regular diners and supporters and we're just taking it one step further. The days of limited slots and being kicked off tables are over. Guests want to feel appreciated."

M Social Victoria

The new Twickenham site has the backing of former England Rugby ace Simon Shaw, creating strong links to local sport and the local community.

The move marks a new direction for M Restaurants, which will be focusing more and more on bringing the "London experience" to the commuter belt.

"It's an easy commute from Twickenham to Victoria where they know the brand," Williams explained.

"We're specifically targeting areas where people will have heard of us. We have diners in the city who come in every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday lunchtime. This is about giving them the M Social experience at the weekend and on their doorstep."

The new Twickenham site will to offer "quality cocktails at entry-level prices" in a similar way to the existing M Social sites in Victoria and Treadneedle Street.

As of 11.30am on Tuesday (October 4), M Restaurants had raised £1.319m of its top end £1.8m target on crowd funding platform Seedrs.

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