Wed, 17 Sep 2025 | ADMINISTRATION
Urban Legend, a healthier sweet bakery brand, is poised to enter administration over the coming days, with the company’s intellectual property (IP) and patented technology set to be acquired in a pre-pack deal.
The company, which is known for its non-HFSS (high fat, sugar or salt) doughnuts, has developed patented air frying technology, which is used to reduce the sugar, fat and calorie content of its filled and ring doughnuts by between 30 per cent and 75 per cent, in comparison to deep-fried alternatives.
The firm has also added sweet pastries and cake pots to its range, with all of its products coming in at 200 calories or under. The London-based company has attracted significant investment, with over £13 million raised since its launch from backers including MondelÄz International, Samworth Brothers, Perfect Rudd and SnackFutures Ventures.
Urban Legend’s products are manufactured at a custom-built London bakery and were initially sold at physical stores in Brighton and Clapham Junction railway stations, as well as via Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
It subsequently expanded into London supermarkets, before expanding distribution across the country, with its products available in bakery cabinets at approximately 200 Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores across the UK, as well as on Ocado and at Moto service stations.
However, the company’s capital-intensive nature ultimately meant that it incurred significant ongoing losses, with losses of £4.7 million recorded in the year to July 31 2024. At the time, this took its total losses since launch to £11.5 million.
Following the collapse of a recent funding round, company founder Anthony Fletcher confirmed that he had engaged Leonard Curtis to undertake a marketing process to identify potential buyers, which has now concluded.
A deal is understood to have been agreed with an unnamed buyer for the company’s IP and patented technology. Fletcher said that the IP had received multiple offers and that the business will soon enter administration “with the expectation that this will be sold”.
In accounts for Believe In Science Limited (which traded as Urban Legend) for the year ending July 31 2024, fixed assets were valued at around £1.1 million and current assets at £1.8 million, with net assets also amounting to slightly over £1.8 million.
Despite the expected pre-pack acquisition of Urban Legend’s IP and patented technology, the FMCG trading side of the business is reportedly set to cease trading, with the company’s products no longer available in supermarkets.
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