Hotel Chocolat is close to achieving one million British households owning a Velvetiser and is confident it will surpass that number during its current financial year which started in July. The brand, founded in 2004, also has a strong subscription platform and customer database through its Velvetiser product, a home-use hot chocolate maker that has been a solid performer. Now with the financial backing it needs, the story could be different. Putting shops on the ground in the U.S.-and elsewhere-will almost certainly be one of the asks of Hotel Chocolat at some point, something it tried in the past but which did not work out. While Mars has better access to long-term capital and an entrepreneurial mindset, it does not have a contemporary, premium chocolate brand with its own stores (more than 120 in the U.K.), so this could be a useful learning experience.

The Mars owner clearly sees Hotel Chocolat as an appetizing addition to its shelf of confectionery brands.” Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at investment manager Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: “This is the latest big company to take a bite out of the UK-listed market and is likely to continue to rattle nerves about an exodus from London.

Phase 10 splash