Sir Tom Hunter invests big as debt-free empire grows with Body Shop revival deal

Sir Tom Hunter said he had “cash to invest” as he outlined a year of solid progress for his business empire including backing a consortium that rescued retail stalwart The Body Shop.

Releasing accounts for his West Coast Capital (WCC) investment business, the Ayrshire-born entrepreneur and philanthropist said he continued to invest in the group’s current portfolio while undertaking fresh investments. WCC ended the year debt free.

“We continue to remain positive in the progress the portfolio is making across the board,” said Hunter. “We have continued to invest across the portfolio in both equity and loans to support these scaled and scaling businesses as they grow. As is well known we do not mark up non-listed business to value and hence are confident in the continued increase in value of our portfolio. In backing exceptional entrepreneurial founders we are seeing excellent growth.”

Sir Tom Hunter said he had “cash to invest” as he outlined a year of solid progress for his business empire including backing a consortium that rescued retail stalwart The Body Shop. | Tom Hunter

In September, West Coast partnered with private equity firm Auréa to acquire The Body Shop out of administration. Auréa, founded by Mike Jatania and Paul Raphaël, specialises in beauty, wellness and longevity.

“With experience in over 40 beauty brands like Yardley and Lypsyl, and expertise in global transactions and restructurings, Auréa is well-positioned to revitalize this iconic brand,” noted Hunter.

He also highlighted strong progress at another investment, credit technology specialist Abound, saying: “This is a business that goes beyond credit scoring applying bank data to build AI-based risk and lending profiles; in essence a financial x-ray to understand consumer affordability of loans.”

Meanwhile, Buzzworks, the hospitality business led by Kenny Blair, is said to have shown “great progress” over the last year with three new openings in the pipeline, adding to the existing 21 venues and creating a further 70 jobs. Buzzworks runs the likes of Thirty Knots, The Bridge Inn, The Fox and Herringbone.

The Hunter Foundation founder added: “At Winchburgh Developments we again continued to invest alongside our partner Cala and saw the completion of the connection of the town, at a cost of £20 million, to the M9. We completed deals to add a further 350 new homes there with seven housebuilders now on site.”