Drinks-focused marketer MRM Global toasts £2.6m BGF boost

An Edinburgh-based firm providing marketing technology to the global drinks and hospitality sector has netted a £2.6 million investment from Business Growth Fund (BGF), saying this will enable it to hire, and catalyse its global growth.

From left: Euan Baxter and Craig Letton at Cask Smugglers in Edinburgh. Picture: contributed.

MRM Global says its technology platform lets global drinks manufacturers and wholesalers significantly boost the level of marketing support they provide to their independent hospitality and retail customers.

Its Brand Creator app is described as enabling sales reps and customers to create on-demand marketing materials that increase brand visibility and product sales. MRM also said that in the last three years, it has expanded to more than 34 countries, and it works with world-leading spirits and beer brands.

MRM wanted to bring on board an investor that shared its vision and values. Picture: contributed.

The sum from BGF will be used to fund further global growth with a focus on expanding MRM’s presence in North America where it says it is seeing strong traction due to its technology’s “disruptive” nature. MRM will recruit a local team in the US to support its customers, develop new business and expand its print partner network.

The firm also aims to invest heavily in the development of its technology platform with plans to triple the size of its Edinburgh-based software engineering team. Its plans include the further development of a digital creator module, which was developed and launched during the coronavirus pandemic to help hospitality outlets adapt to the new trading environment.

MRM chief executive Craig Letton said the major impact Covid-19 has had on the hospitality industry means the firm’s mission has never been more crucial. He said: “In 2019, we doubled the size of our business in both revenue and headcount, which was a real challenge for a business that has been bootstrapped since day one.

“We realised that if we really wanted to achieve our vision of supporting as many customers as possible, we needed to take on growth capital. More than just the capital, we wanted to bring on board an investor that shared our vision and values, with the expertise to help us scale.”

Euan Baxter, an investor at BGF who joins the board of MRM, said: “This partnership has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to back a disruptive and high-growth technology business that is changing the way global drinks brands drive visibility at the point of purchase.”

MRM has also appointed drinks industry veteran Andy Fennell as non-executive chairman. The deal, delivered from BGF’s Edinburgh office, is its third new investment since lockdown and follows it investing £2.7m into The Paint Shed.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director