New 5.3x partial exit for Pembroke VCT: Secret Food Tours – from pub crawl beginnings to 7th in Deloitte’s UK Tech Fast 50
Pembroke VCT has just announced its profitable partial exit of global customised-tours platform Secret Food Tours. The exit generates cash proceeds equivalent to a 5.3x realised return for the VCT, with the VCT continuing to maintain an equity stake. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Following the exit, Pembroke VCT has declared an interim dividend of 2p per share, expected to be paid in May 2025. New investors applying this tax year should also be eligible. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed.
Secret Food Tours was founded in 2013 by beer buddies Nico Jacquart and Oliver Mernick-Levene. They had an idea to organise “food crawls” – like a pub crawl but for food.
The offering they built has since emerged as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the UK. In 2024, it ranked 7th in Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50, having achieved nearly 7,000% growth over its past four financial years.
Secret Food Tours now operates over 200 premium, off-the-beaten-track private tours and experiences for foodies in over 80 cities around the world – taking them where locals eat, arranging workshops with local chefs and artisans, and weaving in the history of a place.
Pembroke VCT first invested in 2018, building to a total investment of £2 million to date.
What strategic support has Pembroke provided the company, including through pandemic difficulties seen by the sector? Why did Pembroke invest? How could you gain exposure to Secret Food Tours and similar companies through Pembroke VCT?
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Secret Food Tours’ journey with Pembroke VCT’s support
The company started in 2013 with food tours in the founders’ native London and Paris, then launched further afield in cities around Europe and the US.
To accelerate growth and double the number of cities it operated in, Secret Food Tours’ founders sought funding – and Pembroke VCT invested £1 million in 2018.
The company comfortably achieved its 60-city target – but then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. This plunged the entire travel and tourism industry into uncertainty and losses.
What to do?
Pembroke’s advice to the Secret Food Tours founders was to protect cash, reduce costs and focus on the technology that they were building.
Co-founder Nico Jacquart considers those were the darkest days and says, “The trust they had in us at that time was the most important thing, and I can’t be more thankful for that.”
When pandemic restrictions were finally lifted and the company needed to restart in all its cities, Pembroke invested again, bringing the total investment to £2 million.
The business has since grown significantly, thanks to its scalable business model. It currently operates in over 80 cities across five continents and has attracted over 52,000 five-star customer reviews.
Why did Pembroke invest?
Pembroke looks to back ambitious entrepreneurs developing consumer brands with either premium pricing potential or using technology to challenge incumbents.
The quality of the founding team is paramount, as CEO Andrew Wolfson of manager Pembroke Investment Managers explains in a recent video interview: “Whatever sector you’re in, if you back the right people, you have a chance of really making a success of the business.”
Pembroke identified this promise in the Secret Food Tours founders, and considers the company one of its top performers.
As part of its investment strategy, the VCT aims to take a significant stake in each portfolio company, to influence strategy and maximise value. It will then provide funding in “steps”, with each tranche allocated toward a specific growth period and proving the next stage of the business.
Pembroke remains committed to supporting Secret Food Tours as the company matures and drives toward a potential larger exit in the future — not guaranteed.
Secret Food Tours has successfully designed and executed a unique business model and an ambitious global expansion plan. [...] Despite the challenges posed by the travel sector's near-total shutdown during the pandemic, founders Oliver and Nico exhibited exceptional resilience and adaptability, turning adversity into innovation and opportunity. We remain confident in the company’s growth potential and look forward to strengthening our partnership in this next phase of the company’s growth.
How to invest in similar companies
Pembroke VCT is open for investment – the deadline for 2024/25 is 4 April 2025 (noon).
After the partial exit, Secret Food Tours remains part of Pembroke’s current portfolio, so existing and new shareholders in the VCT should get some exposure.
As mentioned, the VCT has declared an interim dividend of 2p, expected to be paid in May 2025, and investors applying this tax year should also be eligible. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed.
Pembroke VCT gives investors exposure to a portfolio of around 45 companies across sectors the team knows well: mainly consumer, B2B business services and technology.
The VCT has net assets of £228.8 million (December 2024). To date, it has achieved profitable exits (excluding the Secret Food Tours partial exit), generating £33.5 million in proceeds, against a cost of £10.1 million.
In the five years to 31 December 2024, Pembroke VCT delivered a NAV total return (including dividends) of 15.6%. Past performance is not a guide to the future. The VCT targets an annual dividend of 5p per share – not guaranteed.
See Pembroke VCT's performance
NAV and cumulative dividends per share over five years (p)
Source: Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows net asset value and cumulative dividends per share for the period 31/12/2019-31/12/2024.
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Alex Davies
Chief Executive
Alex was a board director at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for 15 years. He was responsible for building Hargreaves Lansdown into the biggest direct-to-consumer SIPP provider in the UK with more than 150,000 clients and over £12 billion under management. He is a keen investor with a portfolio of shares, funds, student property, EIS and VCT investments.