The English Cream Tea Company – Brand, IP & Asset Sale

Advert ref 1350CGY

Business Partnership presents an intellectual property and asset sale comprising the brand, award-winning recipes, registered trademarks, digital platforms and customer database of The English Cream Tea Company – one of the most recognised British afternoon tea gifting brands, founded in 2011 and holder of a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest cream tea party.

This is an opportunity to acquire a complete, ready-made consumer brand and plug it into an existing kitchen, hamper, gifting, farm shop, tea room or eCommerce operation. It is not the sale of an owner-operated food business: no premises, staff or lease transfer.

Overview

The English Cream Tea Company was created to celebrate one of Britain’s best-loved traditions. Within its first year it had achieved a Guinness World Record, and it has since built a distinctive premium brand identity with customers across the UK, Europe, the USA and Japan, supported by extensive national and international press coverage and a large organic social following.

The brand’s afternoon tea hampers, letterbox cream teas, gift boxes and subscription products have been sold direct-to-consumer and through Not On The High Street, Etsy, Yumbles and Amazon, alongside more than 50,000 corporate gifts supplied to clients including Microsoft, Virgin Media, Hewlett-Packard, Regus and Palo Alto Networks.

A particular strength is the packing and despatch expertise. The company has perfected the method for sending a complete, delicate afternoon tea – chilled cream and sandwiches, fresh scones and even meringues – by courier so that it arrives in perfect condition. It is exactly this know-how that stops most local bakeries and tea rooms from selling beyond their own doorstep, and it transfers in full with documented packing specifications and processes.

Product has always been made in Britain through a network of long-standing UK suppliers, and the operating model is deliberately asset-light. Recipes, packaging specifications, supplier relationships and fulfilment processes are fully documented, so a new owner can run the brand from their own existing facilities or through the established supplier base. A commercial kitchen is not essential – a buyer who wishes to bring production in-house will need their own facility, but the brand can be operated in full through the existing supplier network.

What is Included

• Brand & trademarks – The English Cream Tea Company name and identity, with registered trademarks in the UK, EU and USA; complete brand guidelines, packaging designs and a comprehensive lifestyle and product photography library.
• Recipes & product IP – the proprietary Great Taste Award-winning recipes for scones, brownies, preserves and tea blends, with full product specifications and packaging artwork.
• Digital platforms – englishcreamtea.com (strong organic search visibility), all associated domains, marketplace storefronts on Not On The High Street, Etsy, Yumbles and Amazon, and automated email marketing flows.
• Customer database – a CRM list of more than 12,000 opted-in subscribers, plus the corporate gifting client history.
• Social media – the brand’s Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube accounts.
• Awards, PR & reputation – Great Taste Awards, SME and national accolades, the Guinness World Record, and a press archive spanning the BBC, national newspapers and international media. The brand is approached by media every year around Cream Tea Week, Afternoon Tea Week and the national cream-or-jam-first debate.
• Regulatory & export – FDA food facility registration and documented export processes for the USA and Japan.
• Packing, fulfilment & export know-how – the documented method for packing and despatching complete chilled afternoon teas nationwide, together with playbooks for production, packing, fulfilment and export built over more than a decade.
• Supplier network – introductions to all UK suppliers and co-producers.

Available separately

Substantial retail stock and branded packaging, including approximately 12,000 branded gift tins, teas, preserves and hamper components, is available to the purchaser at valuation, in whole or in part. Stock is not included in the asking price, and a buyer wishing to acquire the brand alone is not required to take it.

Founder involvement

The founders recognise that the brand’s public profile is closely associated with Jane Malyon and have addressed this directly. A structured handover is included, and Jane is willing to remain available under a consultancy arrangement for media appearances, content and brand-ambassador work after completion, on terms to be agreed with the purchaser.

Who this suits

• a hamper, gifting or mail-order operator wanting an established afternoon tea brand for an existing despatch operation;
• a bakery, tea room, farm shop or food hall looking to add a national consumer brand and an online channel;
• a tea, preserve or fine-food producer seeking a consumer-facing front end for its own product;
• a corporate gifting business;
• a brand aggregator, licensing specialist or international buyer of heritage British brands, particularly in the USA and Middle East.

Key Features

Reason For Selling