The Swansea firm’s expansion is being backed with a new £21m funding facility with HSBC

Swansea-based Starbucks franchise venture the Magic Bean Co has revealed major expansion plans for 75 new drive-thrus across the UK.

The business, which currently operates 47 franchise outlets, is being backed to expand with a new £21m funding line from HSBC. The bank, through a revolving credit facility, has support the firm since its was established in 2013 and opened its first Starbucks outlet in Cardiff a year later. The new facility builds on a previous £15m funding agreement.

The expansion over the next five years, will create more than 1,00 new jobs. Every drive-thru with having electric charging points after the company secured a national electrical vehicle channel license agreement. The business currently employs around 700.

Of the new sites, four have already opened . A further four will launch by year end i ncluding those in Port Talbot and Swindon and Netherton in September, followed by Lichfield in November.

Over the five-year period, the business anticipates its turnover will double from £34m to to £68m.

The HSBC UK funding will enable the Magic Bean Co to invest in the development and refit of the new sites, while providing headroom for working capital and supporting the business’ long-term growth.

.Jamie Evans, finance director at the Magic Bean Co, said: “HSBC UK has been with us from the very beginning, supporting us from the opening of our first Starbucks drive-thru in Cardiff in 2014 through to establishing our first revolving credit facility, which helped us expand from 19 sites to the 47 we operate today.

“This latest funding will support the continued rollout of our Starbucks drive-thru portfolio, enabling us to serve more customers in more locations.”

Lyndsey Connor, corporate banking relationship director at HSBC UK, added: “With the UK targeting 300,000 public EV charge points by 2030, investment in innovative roadside developments has never been more important.

“We’re delighted to support the Magic Bean Co on this unique venture, bringing together premium coffee and EV charging to enhance the customer experience while supporting the UK’s transition to electric vehicles.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is renewing his push for a shorter workweek. Critics warn the 32-hour workweek proposal could come at a steep cost for American workers.

Club for Growth President David McIntosh argues the plan could cost workers jobs and benefits while making life “more unaffordable for Americans.”

McIntosh joined FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” to discuss Sanders’ renewed push for a 32-hour workweek and the potential impact on American workers.

Sanders’ proposal would lower the federal standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours over four years without reducing workers’ pay or benefits, with overtime applying after 32 hours. He has tied the renewed effort to advances in artificial intelligence and argued that workers should share in productivity gains.

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McIntosh pushed back, arguing that while AI could boost productivity and wages, mandating a shorter workweek could have unintended consequences for employees.

“AI will make people more productive, and they’ll get paid more, but Bernie’s idea will hurt the very workers he’s trying to help. A lot of people will lose their job, lose their benefits when they implement something like that,” McIntosh said.

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He also framed the proposal as part of a broader economic agenda he believes could raise costs, criticizing what he called “far-left radical socialist policies” and warning they risk “making life more unaffordable for Americans.”

In an appearance on “The Sunday Briefing,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also discussed the idea of a shorter workweek.

“We believe in the dignity of work. It is a biblical foundation. I can’t imagine a scenario where we’d say, ‘Oh, everyone just stay home a couple more days. We’re only gonna work a couple of days.’ The American dream does not include a four-day work week from my perspective, at least,” Rollins said.

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Meesho shares have gained nearly 19% so far in 2026, but CLSA believes the stock’s valuation already reflects overly optimistic expectations for advertising revenue, order growth and logistics savings.

The company’s shares have gained 18.76% year to date, outperforming the Nifty 500, which has declined 3.90% over the same period. Despite the rally, CLSA maintained its Underperform rating and target price of Rs 150. The target implies a 29% downside from its previous close of Rs 210.30.

CLSA said, “Investor discussions around Meesho were largely focused on three potential growth drivers: advertising monetisation, higher order frequency and savings from latent logistics capacity. However, the brokerage believes the market is assigning a higher probability of success to these drivers than warranted.”

Investors are factoring in advertising revenue equivalent to about 5% of net merchandise value by FY30, compared with CLSA’s estimate of 3.9%. The brokerage said this expectation could be difficult to achieve because Meesho already operates at a take rate of 17.8%, compared with 5.1% for Chinese ecommerce company PDD.

Meesho’s sellers also generate only about one-tenth of the merchandise value generated by an average PDD seller, while its seller base is about 5% of PDD’s. According to CLSA, weaker seller-level economics could restrict advertising budgets and make it harder for Meesho to scale ad revenue.

Order frequency is another area where investors expect stronger growth. Meesho’s annual order frequency stood at 10.1 in FY26, and CLSA expects it to rise to 13.4 by FY29 and about 17 by FY32.
A significant increase beyond these estimates would require Meesho to expand into categories such as fast-moving consumer goods and daily essentials, CLSA said. This could require a more localised supply chain and faster deliveries, increasing operational complexity and potentially weakening the company’s asset-light model.The brokerage also questioned whether logistics capacity would remain readily available as Meesho grows. The company accounts for about 39% of India’s ecommerce shipments, up from around 3% five years ago. As more volumes shift to Meesho’s Valmo logistics network, third-party partners may have less incentive to invest in additional infrastructure, potentially creating capacity constraints.

CLSA expects Meesho to remain loss-making through FY27, with a projected net loss of Rs 357 crore. It forecasts a profit of Rs 651 crore in FY28 and Rs 1,483 crore in FY29. The stock trades at about 149 times CLSA’s estimated FY28 earnings and 66 times FY29 earnings.

The Rs 150 target is an equal-weighted blend of CLSA’s relative-valuation estimate of Rs 172 and discounted cash-flow valuation of Rs 128. Faster advertising growth, stronger order frequency and greater logistics efficiencies remain key upside risks to the brokerage’s cautious view.

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Somanjali Das, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Somanjali Das and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.
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For investors, the biggest challenge in wealth creation may not always be finding an investment that delivers poor returns. It can be the tendency to constantly look for something that has performed better. Radhika Gupta, Managing Director and CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, believes that repeatedly moving money in search of higher returns can make investors lose sight of the financial goals they originally started investing for.

Gupta on social media platform X said that, “Most investors start with an absolute goal. “I need 10% returns.” “I need to retire comfortably.” “I need my money to beat inflation and grow.”…………… The biggest wealth destroyer is often not poor performance. It’s the constant search for better performance. “

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Gupta said that most investors begin with an absolute goal: they need 10% return, want to retire comfortably and they may want their investments to generate a certain level of returns, beat inflation, build a retirement corpus or accumulate enough money for a specific financial milestone. However, once they start comparing their returns with those of other funds, their expectations can change.

According to Gupta, an investment that was earlier considered good enough can suddenly appear inadequate when a newer or hotter fund delivers higher returns. This can turn an investor’s focus from achieving a financial goal to beating other investments.
Gupta pointed out that the problem begins when absolute performance becomes relative performance. An investor may have a fund that is delivering the returns required to keep the financial goal on track. But if another fund generates significantly higher returns, the investor may feel the need to switch.
This can result in money moving from one fund to another simply because of recent performance. Investors may end up chasing the latest winner without considering whether the fund’s investment strategy, risk level or portfolio is suitable for their own financial goals.
The original goal, however, may not have changed. The amount required for retirement or another financial objective remains the same. What changes is the investor’s perception of what constitutes a satisfactory return.

Gupta believes investors should remember that performance matters, and consistently poor performance should not be ignored. At the same time, unusually high returns should also prompt investors to ask how those returns were generated.

Markets rarely offer a free lunch. Extraordinary returns can come with extraordinary risks, which may be visible through higher volatility or remain hidden until market conditions change.

A fund that has delivered exceptional returns over a particular period may have benefited from a favourable market cycle, a specific sector exposure or an investment style that may not continue to work in the future. Simply moving into such a fund after it has already generated strong returns can expose investors to the risk of entering at the wrong time.

The tendency to chase performance is not limited to investors. Gupta noted that fund managers can also face pressure to keep pace with better-performing peers.

When investors continuously compare funds based on short-term returns, fund managers may feel compelled to take more aggressive positions to remain competitive. This can increase portfolio risks and encourage a broader market tendency to chase recent winners. As a result, the pursuit of higher returns can become self-reinforcing, with investors and fund managers both responding to what has performed well recently.

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According to Gupta, the best investment strategy is not necessarily one that produces the highest return every year. Instead, investors should focus on whether their chosen investment approach can help them reach their financial objectives.

This means evaluating a mutual fund based on factors such as investment strategy, risk, consistency, time horizon and suitability for the portfolio rather than simply looking at which fund delivered the highest return in the recent past. Once an appropriate strategy has been identified, investors also need the discipline to stay invested through different market cycles.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

If you have any mutual fund queries, message ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get them answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions at ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in along with your age, risk profile, and Twitter handle.