Warwick Music Group Receives £700,000 Of Funding

pBone 1

10 July 2015

The award-winning Coventry-based company behind the world’s first plastic trombone has received more than £700,000 investment from venture capital specialists Midven and HSBC Bank plc.

Warwick Music Group currently sells around 25,000 plastic trombones – pBones – per
year, making it the largest supplier of trombones in the world.

The company, which started as a sheet music retailer more than 20 years ago, has received the equity investment through Midven’s Exceed Fund.  The money will be used to accelerate Warwick Music Group’s development pipeline, which includes a number of new products with HSBC providing invoice finance and trade loan facilities to support the company’s order book.

Led by chief executive Steven Greenall, the company has developed the world’s first all-plastic trumpet – pTrumpet – and is currently designing a further range of plastic musical instruments, including a pCornet and pFlute.

Mr Greenall said: “There are a number of key advantages to plastic instruments over their traditional brass counterparts.  They are cheaper to produce and have a lower retail price, they are more robust and can resist scratches and dents, as well as being approximately a third of the weight.  This benefits young players in particular by allowing them to keep good posture.  We also make the instruments in a variety of colours which makes them both appealing and fun to own.”

Mr Greenall said since reaching a distribution agreement in 2011, Warwick Music Group had sold more than 120,000 pBones in under four years.  With the launch of the pTrumpet in September last year, it had secured substantial orders for that instrument too.

“Though it is the same size and produced comparable sound quality to a brass trumpet, it weighs only one pound,” Mr Greenall added.

Midven investment director Surjit Kooner said Warwick Music Group was a well-established company set for expansion with the advantage of an experienced management team.

“They have good, high quality products in what is a very competitive market, and have secured significant orders via long term contracts,” Mr Kooner said.  “Our investment will help the company push on and accelerate its development as well as bringing a number of new products to market in the next year.”