More Housing’s new home, The Parker gives councils a solution to the housing crisis.

Currently, the UK has close to 100k people in temporary housing or on the streets. Conditions in temporary housing have been widely reported by charities and the media as unsafe and unsatisfactory, with one in five having hazardous conditions. This menagerie of problems – poor air circulation, damp and mold, only shared facilities with no private, lockable front doors, safe storage or room to work – means living in poor-quality temporary housing can have a variety of mental health implications for those affected.

More Housing’s mission was to create mental health inspiring, low carbon, eco-innovative homes that could be deployed quickly to suit each county’s requirements.

With homes designed using MMC for meanwhile and permanent sites, More Housing now provides a unique eco-innovative, mental health friendly solution for councils nationwide.

Attempting to solve one issue without creating another was the challenge for the team.

Three years of constant setbacks and continued innovation to source solutions for them, has seen More Housing finally launch.

Mr Hossain, Operations Executive at More Housing said:

‘Whether it’s temporarily using brownfield sites or permanent spaces, Councils can now use our plug and play homes to plan solutions to complement their town, city or village plans with a future-proofed investment.

‘Installation is seamless as all homes come in completed 3D volumetric modules with all internal and external finishes and services installed, a high PMV and are stackable to configure the optimum design for the space.

‘Each home arrives fully furnished and has a highly efficient fabric system. Clean air, filtered through our mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system, high ceilings, space and storage means that each home feels homely, with the ability to hang pictures on the walls and a designated area to enable working from home. It forms a fresh new beginning for each occupant and we hope, a new dawn and solution for the country as a whole.’

Showcased at world renowned BRE Innovation Park

The Parker is currently on display at BRE Innovation Park in Watford. BRE Innovation Park is respected globally for testing the validity of property innovation and showcasing home designs of the future.

Mr Hossain continued:

‘We took it as the biggest complement that The Parker is showcased at BRE. We have proven that it is possible to build high quality, affordable housing in an eco-friendly, mental health inspiring manner. Not to be mistaken for shipping containers, each More Housing home is built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) which means that there is less waste, site noise, disruption and the they are closer to net zero carbon as they can possibly be.

‘Fully electric in its design, each home is also powered by solar and smart battery power. Air is filtered as it enters the home and before it leaves which eradicates dust and viruses. Due to the smart functionality built in, each home is far cheaper to sustain helping its new occupants to create a new life with reduced stress and maintained dignity.

‘We are forever grateful for our working relationship with Integra. Who, from sharing our same values, has worked tirelessly to bring our three home variations to reality.’

The Parker is manufactured by Integra Buildings, a modular construction company based in East Yorkshire and a close manufacturing partner of MORE Housing. East Yorkshire-based modular specialist Integra Buildings is manufacturing The Parker at its base in Paull, near Hull.

Wayne Potter, Anti-Vandal Sales Manager at Integra Buildings, said:

‘Our partnership with More Housing stemmed from a shared belief and vision – to tackle homelessness and provide quality, affordable housing to those most in need of help.

‘This is a hugely exciting project which showcases the advancements and enormous potential of modular housing. The Parker is a stunning design, built to an incredibly high technical standard.

‘We’ve seen first-hand from previous projects, including the installation of 30 studio apartments for young people in Bristol, how perfectly suited modular construction is to the design and delivery of pod accommodation.

‘We’re excited for what we hope will be a long and successful partnership with More Housing.’

As the UK moves into one of its harshest winter’s yet, it’s More Housing’s hope that councils get in touch or visit BRE to see how simple the solution can be to meet the desperate need for housing in a future focused way.

Read more:
More Housing’s launch is a new start in the UK’s approach to the housing crisis

Ben Rivers, founder of male grooming brand Baldape, shares the story behind his business and his keys to success.

Tell us about your business?

We are a men’s grooming brand driven by a lack of practical solutions and suitable products for everyday grooming and exist to provide innovative, top-quality solutions that we and our customers are proud to use.

I founded Baldape Parlour in 2019 and it officially launched in the spring of 2021. We’re based in London and it was born out of the need for a DIY solution for manscaping some hard to reach areas (the back!). There were no suitable products for me on the market and the only other options were visiting a salon or asking for assistance. After testing a few ideas, I came up with what I like to call the ‘lather & loof’ technique and our first product, the Silverback Kit, was born! We launched with a bodycare range and have now recently rolled out a beard and skincare collection. Throughout my adult life I faced challenges and frustrations with finding a reliable and healthy skincare routine. As someone prone to dry skin and eczema and having trialled A LOT of products out there, I always thought I had something to offer in this space.

What is your background?

I graduated in 2015 with a degree in economics and have spent most of my professional career in banking and finance in London. I’ve managed to incorporate several years of travelling abroad within that time and have lived in Australia, Asia, and Latin America most recently. I caught the entrepreneurial bug when working with a friend on his start-up and it was one of the most thrilling things I’ve done and ever since I’ve been working towards my own venture.

What sets you apart from your competition?

Our products and formulas are what mostly sets us apart. Male grooming products are often just an afterthought of existing women’s products, or the formulas are too harsh and heavily fragranced with perfume. This assumption that men want products that smell incredibly manly are often to the detriment of our skin as perfumed products can cause irritation. We’ve curated all our products with this in mind and have used only the best natural ingredients to give men confidence in their grooming products.

What also sets us apart is our aim to become a fully sustainable male grooming brand and our commitment to donate 5% of our profits to environmental and conservation projects.

How do you spread the word about your business?

So far, most marketing has been done through search engines like google where people are directly looking for the solution to their needs which has been effective. We are gradually increasing social media presence and advertising as this needs to be done on a large scale to be effective. We have advertised products and ran competitions in publications such as GQ, MensHealth and Cosmopolitan which is costly but fundamental in establishing integrity with the brand and getting noticed by a wider audience. We’re working with a new PR agency and are excited for potential editorial press in the new year to continue spreading the word. We’ve found the more angles you try and the longer you promote them, you’ll start to see customer traffic balancing out across the marketing channels and more people will be returning directly to your store.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

As a new business it’s all about spreading the word so I think the hardest part is balancing your marketing expenditures with your sales and not putting yourself out of business. This can be difficult when you don’t know which marketing channels are going to be effective and which aren’t, but it’s all part of the process.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

I applied for the Government Start-up loan and received some funding which helped launch the business but apart from that it is self-funded.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

I think as someone with no marketing background, this was a challenging area to start with however you learn fast and understand it’s not going to be an overnight success, you need to put the time and work in to start seeing results. Another area that was challenging was developing our first cosmetic product. As a new start-up, building the brand from scratch, it can be difficult to get your foot in the door, especially when the minimum order quantities are large and you have limited capital but by being resourceful, patient and a bit persistent you can overcome these hurdles.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

I’d say the best decision I’ve made so far must be doing a lot of the work myself and trying not to outsource anything that can be done, to a good standard, from my own laptop. This means teaching yourself to do everything creative i.e., marketing, design, website build, photography etc. Learning how to use the Adobe suite is the most valuable thing I have done so far. To be able to design all your own packaging, logos, social media content and edit product photos and film is incredibly valuable. It will save you a lot of money and time.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I don’t really have any regrets so far, sure there are things I may have done differently or things that didn’t work out, but they are all valuable lessons and you learn what works and to steer your business in the right direction.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

I’d say my proudest achievement so far would be winning an industry award but also hearing the positive experiences of our customers.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

The main aim at the moment is to spread the word in as many ways as possible so people can give our products a try and hopefully find great solutions to their personal care challenges. I’m really excited for the future and to see where the brand can go, what it can achieve and the positive social impact it will make. I want to create a fully encompassing male grooming brand which can deliver on all areas without compromising on quality and affordability, providing men with confidence in their personal care.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Male grooming brand, Baldape

Olivia Crabtree talks to us about how her comprehensive guide is supporting small businesses all around the country.

What is your business all about?

The Small Business Handbook offers affordable, yet high-value, support for product-based businesses – typically creatives, handmade sellers, Etsy sellers and start-ups. I aim to help as many people as possible, regardless of how much or little money they have, as I believe every small business deserves the chance to pursue their dreams with valuable help. I offer a range of masterclasses on specific topics, such as ‘The Instagram Content Strategy Masterclass’ which teaches people how to create a strategy that allows them to both grow and sell on Instagram simultaneously. I also offer 1-1 coaching and mentoring for individuals who need further help with their business. As well as this, I have a range of planners designed specifically for product-based business owners. Each one is focused on helping a specific topic, for example The Launch Planner guides people through the necessary steps needed to have a successful product launch.

The story behind your business?

I owned another business prior to The Small Business Handbook. I was a full-time student at the University of York studying Ecology, Economics and Environment when I hit a wall, realising I didn’t have enough money to live on. I did have a part-time job too, but the hours weren’t enough to fund my shared house rent costs. So, I decided to start selling handmade gifts on Etsy, which later extended to personalised candles too. This business was a smashing success, unexpectedly. So much so, I dropped out of university after a few months to pursue it full time. As the first business was started with financial motivation, I had no real passion for it, so I lost my love for it when it picked up and required lots of work.

As it was so successful in such a short space of time, I was handing out advice and tips to other Etsy sellers, who were coming back to me saying that my help had massively increased their sales. It was 11pm on a Friday night when I spontaneously decided to set up a small business tips Instagram page to help others out. After approx. one month of sharing free tips, someone suggested I write an Etsy eBook – which I did. I launched the eBook and earned more in that first 24 hours than I ever had from any other job before.

I had only recently moved in with my boyfriend in Hull, who was financially stable, and that night I decided to shut my Etsy shop and turn my small business tips page into a business. I started writing more and more eBooks and was growing at rate I couldn’t comprehend.

The Small Business Handbook – now with a combined audience of over 50,000 small business owners on social media – flourished into a beautiful community where people felt as though they could discuss things, they were finding difficult, and seek help for those issues. I started this business just 6 months ago and am already very close to reaching 6-figures. This community I’ve created is wonderful in the respect that I’ve grown my own business whilst others have grown theirs alongside me. Still, I am very appreciative for my customers and followers and give a lot back to them – posting free tips on my social media every day, and regular giveaways.

I know people now look up to me, but I hope they always remember that I was once in their position, so it’s very much possible for them to reach their business goals too. With my first business, I spent most of my profits on courses to learn all about business – but these were costing me £100s, if not £1,000+. I know this is completely inaccessible for so many small businesses, so I will always strive to provide help and guidance that can be afforded by all who need it.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Reels are my main source of traffic, as well as TikTok, SEO, YouTube, PPC Facebook ads, influencers, referrals and Pinterest. My followers often act as ambassadors by voluntarily sharing images of my masterclasses and planners on social media.

How has your business been during the COVID-19 pandemic?

My first business thrived during the pandemic as people were unable to go out and buy gifts, meaning more people were shopping for them online. The Small Business Handbook hasn’t really seen any impacts from the pandemic as it was started when the rules were relaxed. As everything I do is online, I don’t think any changes would have a major impact, although, if the pandemic was to impact my customer’s businesses, that would of course have a knock-on effect to mine.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Too much to do, too little time! I used to find myself working stupidly long hours which I’m not an advocate of, and have since changed. But even now, I still feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done! I have recently started outsourcing which has been a huge help!

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Out of the blue, I developed severe health anxiety throughout the summer of 2021. I have always felt uncomfortable in the heat and warm weather, but that coupled with the stress appeared to send me into a state of panic. I was encountering daily panic attacks for 3 months, and it put my business on hold for some time. I had to stop offering 1-1 coaching as sitting on a zoom call sent me into a panicked state. I was far less productive as I spent the majority of my days worrying, or distracted by this anxiety. I was constantly self diagnosing myself meaning I didn’t seek proper help for some time, but I came to a realisation that it was in fact just anxiety. I booked in with a doctor – Dr Kirren – who I found on Instagram, and after my treatment with her, life went back to normal and business resumed. At this point, I had no employees, so with me not working as normal, no work was getting done.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I would have outsourced much earlier. I was clearly stressed and overwhelmed, and needed extra help on board. I feel as though the 3 month period of being unproductive could’ve been avoided if I had asked for help. It was only after reading a book that taught me “invest more money than time” when I was inspired to start outsourcing.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

It’s hard to pinpoint one. I’m flooded with messages on Instagram every day, and sent gifts in the post, from people explaining how much their business has grown since watching my classes. If I had to pick one, I’d say I’m proudest of helping 7 small business owners go full-time on their business within 6 months.

What are your hopes for the next five years?

I’d like to continue growing a community of small business owners who feel as though The Small Business Handbook is a safe space for them. I aim to publish my first book within the next few months, and aim to have my book, and planners sold in large retailers such as Waterstones and Paperchase.

Read more:
Made in Britain: The Small Business Handbook

Bradley St John Jones talks to us about his company, The Personal Barber, a shaving subscription box service.

Tell us about your business?

The Personal Barber is a shaving subscription box service based around the classic single-blade safety razor and brush style of shaving, regarded as the best style of shaving to reduce irritation (particularly if you have sensitive skin), and cut back on plastic-waste.

Every six weeks we curate a new selection of shaving soaps/creams, post-shave balms, colognes, moisturisers and more, which we send out to our members along with a restock of ten blades. If you’ve never used a safety razor before, the first kit includes a razor and brush as well as step-by-step instructions.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

It came from my own poor experience using plastic cartridge razors and looking for something better. I think most men start off being excited at the prospect of shaving. It’s a rite of passage that most go through. Unfortunately, the novelty wears off quite quickly as it becomes a never-ending chore you have to do if you want a clean-shaven look. As someone that had long suffered from sensitive skin, I would dread every shave. It would leave my skin feeling uncomfortable and even into my early twenties would often initiate a breakout of spots. I would therefore avoid shaving as much as possible. It was only after I was introduced to a classic safety razor that things changed. Suddenly my shaves weren’t causing irritation anymore and my skin was feeling more comfortable than ever. This was a game-changer for me as I saw a huge improvement in my skin whilst being able to regularly achieve a clean-shaven look, but the most surprising change was when I realised that I was actually enjoying the shave! Whereas before I was shaving at most once in a week, now I was shaving every day. The process of whipping up a warm scented lather and then efficiently removing stubble one line at a time with a clean sweep of the razor was incredibly satisfying.

I created The Personal Barber because I felt like I had stumbled across something great that very few people seemed to be aware of, and I wanted to introduce as many people as possible to this style of shaving. I was, and still am, convinced that learning to use a safety razor will completely change how you see your morning routine. At the time of starting TPB, there was very little marketing going into classic shaving. There were a few quality brands in the space but it was very niche and nowhere near as popular as it is now. I knew that safety razors have an old-fashioned look and feel that could put people off so I created TPB as a subscription to highlight the fun experience of it.

What sets you apart from your competition?

The big brand subscriptions seem to focus on convenience. They send out a plastic razor, not much different from what you’d get in the supermarket, along with some shaving cream and maybe a balm. It’s the same every box and it’s not likely to blow you away with excitement, or change your thoughts about shaving, but they will save you a trip to the supermarket.

The Personal Barber is more focused on the whole experience and making shaving a part of your day you don’t begrudge doing. The razor will ensure you get a comfortable, and enjoyable shave, the brush and natural creams adds that luxurious ritual element, and the plastic-free blades give you a clean conscience.

Not only do you get to learn a better way to shave, but the boxes are curated so you’re also getting to try new products, often sourced from small passionate businesses, that you wouldn’t have come across before. It makes each unboxing something to look forward to, and trying each product makes your routine a bit more exciting.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Deciding what to focus the most time on. There are infinite directions to take a business in and deciding what to say no to and what to say yes to can be a constant source of frustration. It can be tempting to try to do everything at once because once you’ve identified an opportunity it becomes difficult to forget about it, but you can only allocate so much time to each project and it’s better to do one thing very well than lots of things poorly.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been getting new customers to overcome their initial hesitation to try out a safety razor. I get a lot of guys referring to ‘Sweeney Todd’ when in fact that’s a completely different style of razor. Our razor is so much easier to use and nowhere near as scary. Fortunately, once they try it out, I’ve found over 90% of members say they would never go back to their plastic disposable, it’s just that good!  By focusing on quality, informative content I’ve been able to maintain a healthy conversion rate on the site but it’s still the biggest hurdle to signing up a new member.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far? 

Creating The Personal Barber’s own range of products has been immensely satisfying. I was able to take our shaving soap from an idea to countless handmade formulations and finally to getting a full batch of product scaled up at a large manufacturer.

Whilst being a rewarding project personally, it also meant I was able to create a more consistent unboxing experience for new members, lower first box costs, and create an extra revenue stream via wholesale through retailers.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I would go back to when Facebook ads were cheap and invest every penny I could get hold of into them using the knowledge I have now. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and with the recent IOS changes to tracking it’s becoming difficult to justify Facebook as a significant share of the marketing budget anymore.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

I never tire of hearing how much of a difference the subscription has made to people’s lives. I regularly get kind messages from members saying how switching to our razors and following the instructions on how to achieve a great shave has completely changed their grooming routine for the better. Men that have suffered irritation all their lives being able to leave the house without a red inflamed neck, or guys that have begrudged shaving for over 40 years and now find it’s their favourite part of the day.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

I want to keep expanding The Personal Barber’s own range, continuing with the focus on products that are plastic-free, ethical, and sustainable. We’re already beginning to get stocked in a number of small retailers and I hope that in five years time we’ll have swapped the paradigm around and you’ll see our eco-friendly shaving products on supermarket shelves instead of wasteful disposable cartridges.

As for the subscription, the focus is to keep growing our subscriber base. We’ve already started working with independent brands to create unique products that are exclusive to members of the club. As our base grows, we’ll be able to do even more exciting things like that.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Shaving subscription box, The Personal Barber

Christian Gabriel, founder of equity management company Capdesk, discusses the journey of his company and his secrets to success.

Tell us about your business?

I founded Capdesk in 2015. It’s my fourth venture as an entrepreneur. Before that, I ran a graphic design business, then launched a creative incubator, where we developed pitch videos to help companies raise funding. I also founded a consultancy to support companies with crowdfunding, where we set up campaigns and developed educational materials on the crowdfunding process.

Capdesk is headquartered in London with a second office in Denmark, but since the pandemic we’ve moved to a ‘work from anywhere’ model. We have Capdeskers in eight countries at the moment, and we’re planning to supercharge our customer acquisition throughout Europe in 2021.

My role involves setting the direction for the company, plus making sure everything’s running smoothly, everyone’s happy and that we always have funding to do what we want to do. I spend about 20% of my time on external matters and 80% on internal ones, which is totally different to the early days of the business. On a typical day, I could be holding an interview, having a one-to-one with one of Capdesk’s managers, fielding ad hoc questions, drafting a process for a new initiative and preparing for a board meeting.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

Capdesk was inspired by my experience of working at a crowdfunding platform in Denmark. The vast majority of companies keep track of their equity using messy spreadsheets. That’s not ideal for any business, but it’s total chaos when you have hundreds or even thousands of people with equity in the company!

Spreadsheets take a lot of time to maintain and come with a very high risk of human error. This is a problem if you need to check information about company ownership at short notice, where delays could put off a potential investor, or spotting and fixing errors can create a roadblock in the audit process.

Initially, I wanted Capdesk to help crowdfunded companies simplify equity management by digitising their cap tables and automating time-consuming processes. Now, we work with all kinds of private companies, with most of our customers being fast-growth startups and scale-ups.

I’m incredibly proud that Capdesk has managed to turn equity from a thorn in the side of the average finance team into its competitive advantage. With spreadsheets, the process of issuing employees equity can be so complex that founders feel it’s not worth the effort – even though equity is a powerful tool for motivating, rewarding and retaining individuals. Capdesk isn’t just digitising cap tables. We’re making it easy for leaders to unlock the power of equity by giving their staff some skin in the game.

What is your point of difference?

Capdesk is the best end-to-end solution for businesses in Europe to manage their equity.

Our truly unique feature is secondary transactions. Normally, when you issue share options to an employee, that person won’t be able to access the cash value of their equity until the business is sold or goes public. But life doesn’t always line up with your employer’s business plans. I believe optionholders should be able to use their equity to put down a house deposit, start their own companies, or take a career break, any time they want.

We created our secondaries marketplace in partnership with crowdfunding platform Seedrs, so companies can find buyers on the largest marketplace in Europe. We’re building an infrastructure that mimics the London Stock Exchange, but for shares in private companies.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting! The best way to get recommendations is to make a great impression and ask your new connection if there’s anyone else you should reach out to, or if they can make an introduction. Then focus on your customers: optimise your product for their happiness, deliver an incredible experience, and convert them into raving fans.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Better than expected! We’ve had a record year for new client numbers and far exceeded our revenue targets.

When the first lockdown came into effect, we quickly converted to remote-first operations and pivoted our strategy from ‘unicorn’ (aggressive spending in pursuit of rapid growth) to ‘camel’ (conservative, sustainable spending with a strategy focused on strength and resilience).

It was important for me to put our people before revenue – your reputation lasts much longer than a lockdown. We immediately delayed payments for any clients who were struggling and jumped on calls to help customers issue share options digitally. We learned that subsidising salaries with share options was a very effective way for founders to retain staff – so if there’s one silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that more business leaders are sharing the fruits of their success.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

The people. Working in the tech industry, you might not think that’s a big part of your role – but in reality, everything you do is about people. When you run a business, you make products for people, which are driven by people, and funded by people. You’ve got so many stakeholders, who are all unique individuals, and they often want very different things.

Because of this, you have to compromise – sometimes you have to disappoint an investor, and sometimes a customer can’t have what they want. It takes time to get used to handling people’s expectations, and what you can deliver in reality. Great CEOs care about people, and love to be around them –  which means it can be really tough to make those compromises, maybe more so for the best leaders.

‘People’ decisions are the ones that keep me up at night, wondering if I could have done better. Also, it can be lonely as a CEO – you can’t always vent to your colleagues when people are being difficult!

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We’ve been very fortunate to raise investment from some major venture capital firms, which currently totals £10.8m.

In March, we raised a £5m Series A extension round led by Fidelity International Strategic Investments and MiddleGame Ventures. This will accelerate our international expansion and help us develop new, innovative product features.

Until now, we’ve prioritised building a platform for fast-growth startups, but with the new funds, we’re planning to build a full suite of equity management solutions for private companies of every shape and size.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

I started Capdesk when I was 24, and it felt like I had to grow up in my own business – which is really hard. I also had to do it in a new field, and a new country. In the UK, I didn’t have any friends, classmates or family connections, I just had to figure out what to do with Capdesk by myself.

As a founder, you have to constantly keep improving yourself and the team to push the company to new heights. You make great friends at startups, but just because someone is a fantastic person, that doesn’t mean they’re going to stay with the company forever. Growing the business and maintaining a strong culture as different people come and go is an ongoing challenge.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Moving to the UK! It’s not just been the best business choice, but the best decision for my whole life. London attracts dreamers from all over the world: everyone is open to other cultures, and different ways of doing things. London’s people are the best in the world.

Any regrets?

I grew up on the job, so I probably view Capdesk a bit like people view their teenage years – a lot of cringeworthy moments, where you thought you were the king of the world, then look back and think you could have done so much better, had you known more at the time.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

I’d love to achieve complete transparency. I don’t think there’s a need for managers, as much as a need for transparent communication between the board, CEO and everyone else on the team. I wish everyone could learn how to be outcome-driven – it’s very hard for more junior staff to understand the link between the tasks they do and the impact for the business. A company where executives, board members and employees are all aligned, and where everyone can relate their activities to target outcomes, is a CEO’s dream.

What’s next for your business?

Bringing the equity revolution to every country in Europe! International expansion is a huge focus for Capdesk right now. Every country in Europe has a unique legal framework for equity. The UK scores highly for share option-friendliness, but we love a challenge, so we’re launching Capdesk in Germany this year. It’s possibly the most complex place in Europe to run an employee equity scheme, but it has a thriving tech startup ecosystem.

Everyone should be able to benefit from the business wealth they’ve helped to create – it shouldn’t matter where you live. Educating business leaders on the true power of equity in growing companies is a key part of my role. I hope offering employee equity will soon become standard practice in all businesses – not just the Silicon Valley elite.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Equity management firm, Capdesk

We sat down with Sara, CTO of digital community platform Rest Less, to learn about her experience of building a business from scratch.

Tell us about Rest Less?

Rest Less is a digital community and advocate for people in their 50s, 60s and beyond.  We offer content, guidance and resources on a range of topics spanning Work and Careers, Learning, Money and Pensions, Health, Hobbies and Activities, Social Connections, Relationships and more.  We also have our own Community with tens of thousands of our members connecting virtually with each other.

Rest Less launched in early 2019 and now has more than 650,000 members in the UK.

Where did the idea for your business come from? 

After reflecting on my parents’ experiences in the workplace, I’d been thinking a lot about the opportunity to help this generation thrive in the workplace and get more from life more generally. At the same time, my co-founder was reflecting on his late father’s experience of a 36-year long retirement after having worked for 35 years. We were introduced by a mutual acquaintance in 2018 when I was working for Credit Suisse in New York and I returned back to the UK to set up Rest Less.

What is your background? 

At University, I studied Computing Solutions part-time whilst also working in web-related roles. After graduating, I worked in a variety of software engineering roles throughout my 20s, eventually reaching a senior management position in a bank in both London and New York during which I was responsible for managing technical teams.

As Chief Technology Officer at Rest Less, I’m responsible for technology across the business – whether it’s product, engineering, operations or security. My team is currently 14 large and growing.

What sets you apart from your competition?

Rest Less is a digital resource and community offering people advice and inspiration on a whole range of different topics. We have been told by many of our members that they consider us to be like a trusted friend and advisor, which is wonderful feedback and a responsibility that we take very seriously. We hope to be a great starting point for people as they navigate their way through life’s many midlife transitions and often sign-post people to more tailored help where necessary.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We use a range of tools to reach new customers. With an average age in their mid to late 50s, this is the fastest growing demographic on Facebook so that has been a central channel for acquisition, to date. We launched our app in Summer 2021 and supported it with television and radio advertising which are two new routes to customer acquisition.

We have also built a strong media presence as an advocate for people in their 50s, 60s and older.  My co-founder has been interviewed on multiple occasions for the BBC, Sky News, ITN and other broadcasters. We have also featured across all the national newspapers with our analysis on government data as well as stories from our members. As well as providing a voice for our existing members, this has helped us to reach new members too.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic? 

Like many businesses, we navigated a total change in priorities during the pandemic.  We used the time to focus on feature delivery and product testing. We rapidly built out three new platforms on the site (coaching, volunteering, and courses) and we also launched our own Community which proved to be essential for many of our members to connect with others whilst in isolation.

We secured our Series A funding round during the pandemic too which has meant we have been able to grow our team rapidly this year – from 12 in January to 43 now.  We’ve been able to launch an app, grow our Commercial team and plan a couple of exciting new platforms before the end of the year too.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

We are all living longer, healthier lives and as a result, almost all of UK population growth is coming from the over 50s.  Our goal is for Rest Less to continue to grow to meet the needs of our members – across jobs and career, money, lifestyle, relationships and more – and help them live their lives to the fullest.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Building a business from scratch takes blood, sweat and tears. You give it everything and you know it inside out. This makes it really difficult to delegate when you scale. Hiring great people is central to being okay with letting go a little and learning that just because someone takes a different approach to something doesn’t make it wrong.

Time and energy management are also difficult. There are never enough hours in the day to get through the workload, there is always something else that needs to be done. This makes life outside of work very difficult to justify at times and I often feel guilty if I’m spending some down-time with my family or friends when I could be spending even more time working on Rest Less. I appreciate the importance of boundaries though and consciously look after my mental and physical health to ensure I don’t burn out – I have a gym buddy who I exercise with and she holds me accountable if I don’t show up!

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We raised £6.1 million in our Series A Funding round in early 2021 which has enabled us to scale quickly this year and grow the team from 12 to 43 in the space of about six months.  We are planning another funding round for early 2022 as well which will help us expand Rest Less even further.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced? 

As for many other businesses, the pandemic was a really difficult time for us. We were focusing on the jobs the pandemic was a difficult time for us – we were focussing on building our jobs offering for employers and for members. The pandemic forced us to accelerate our plan but this had implications on our funding runway and also our hiring strategy. Instead of taking time to find the perfect candidate match, speed of hire became more important.  We’ve found certain roles really difficult to hire for – tech, product, and marketing are all sectors where we’ve noticed a scarcity of great, senior level people. We are pleased to report that we got lucky in the end!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Hiring the best people from the very beginning will remain one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Having a strong and passionate team on board from the very beginning was instrumental in our early successes.

I imagine that’s a very common answer, so I wanted to give you one more, specifically on the tech side. We made a decision early on that we would allow our sales and marketing teams to self-serve for lightweight technology requirements. This meant they weren’t reliant on an engineering team to deliver business-impacting tech solutions, like building new landing pages on the main site for example. Whilst this required a certain amount of upskilling, it has delivered a huge impact and has enhanced the capacity of our tech team to focus on broader projects which has really helped to support our growth.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

Knowing the huge difference it has made when we’ve brought these people on board, I would have hired for product and finance a lot earlier. These people have had a big impact on how we work and if we’d known just how much, it would have been a no-brainer to bring them on board earlier in our journey.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

We had our first team away day of the year recently and I felt so proud when I looked at the 42 other people in the room. To know that we’ve built a business from scratch and we’ve got a bunch of incredible people working with us feels like an incredible achievement.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years? 

I’d like to think that Rest Less will have a global footprint in some capacity in the next five years. I’d also like to think that we will have expanded further into the financial and health sectors which are proving so popular with our members, delivering them world class products.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Digital community platform, Rest Less

Maya Harruna and Taeya Abdel-Majeed explain the journey behind their guilt-free online bakery brand, No Guilt Bakes.

What is your business all about?

My company, No Guilt Bakes, is an award-winning online bakery that specialises in tasty cakes, sweet-treats and savoury essentials that are SugarWise Certified ‘No-added Sugar’, low in carbohydrates and gluten, making them perfect for diabetics, gluten intolerant, the health-conscious and people following a keto/low-carb diet.

Tell us the story behind your business?

My cousin Taeya and I lost 40kg between the two of us by sticking to a ketogenic diet. We both adore desserts, chocolate and sweet treats, and we struggled to find keto-friendly sugar free snacks that tasted as good as the sugar-ladened originals. So, we decided to bake our own.

Our friends, family and colleagues enjoyed them so much that they started asking us if the sweet treats were available to buy, and No Guilt Bakes was born.

No Guilt Bakes is our first foray into entrepreneurship and despite Taeya having an extremely demanding full-time career in finance and me currently completing a very demanding law conversion degree, we have managed to build a successful business that generated in excess of £100k in the first year of operation which we’ve since doubled.

Based in the heart of East London, we launched the business in November 2019, just before the first lockdown. Initially, we were baking in our home kitchen but demand for our range of no-added sugar cakes exploded and our humble oven couldn’t handle the demand, and within a few months of launching we had to move to a commercial kitchen.

What sets you apart from your competition?

There are very few sweet treats available on the market that have a low glycemic impacte, and so it’s difficult for British consumers to find products that are free from added sugar, but don’t have an impact on blood sugar levels.

What sets No Guilt Bakes apart from our competition is that we use sweeteners that don’t spike blood sugar levels, whilst still tasting great.

Flavour and texture is central to what makes No Guilt Bakes stand out. Before launching we spent six months testing recipes, because it was important to us that our cakes could be enjoyed by everyone, and not just people that are trying to get healthier. Last year our cakes were awarded a Nourish award – Nourish is the UK’s leading health food award for foods, drinks and supplements that provide a healthier option.

How do you spread the word about your business?

When we launched, we were selling to friends and family, and so word of mouth was key to our initial growth.

Social media has also been central to our development and growth, as it helped us to raise awareness of the brand organically, and we are so lucky to have a large amount of repeat custom.

We then tapped into Google Ads to maximise exposure and drive sales.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Prior to the pandemic, our growth strategy was centred around food markets, gyms and coffee shops. However, the lockdown put a screeching halt to our plans, and by the end of March, sales dropped drastically and we were left questioning the future of the business.

Many businesses were affected by the pandemic, yet the ability to adapt to ever-changing, uncertain circumstances is indeed the difference between ‘swimming or sinking’. We re-evaluated our approach and turned our attention to digital ventures and transitioned to being an online-only business.

We have been extremely lucky. After the initial turmoil, the shift made as a result of the lockdown actually benefited the business significantly – increasing turnover by 600%.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

The health and wellness industry is one of the fastest growing sectors, in 2020 the UK market was worth an estimated £23 billion, and it is expected to continue growing at a rate of 6.4%. Since the pandemic, increasing numbers of people are becoming more health conscious, and embracing healthier alternatives to their usual favourites.

As a result, we expect to see the market for ‘no added’ sugar cakes grow. According to research by Harris Interactive, interest in keto has grown, with internet interest in the term increasing three-fold. So, we predict that the keto trend will continue to grow as Brit’s look for effective ways to lose their lock-down weight gain.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Not having enough hours in the day! Taeya has a full-time job and my law course is extremely demanding, and so it never feels like we have enough time to get everything done.

No Guilt Bakes is our first business, and because we decided to bootstrap the business, we have taken a very hands-on approach and had to learn on the go. There is so much to learn, and the learning never stops!

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Finding the right manufacturer has been one of the biggest challenges we have faced. Demand for the cakes keeps growing, and a number of retailers have shown interest in our range.

It has been a challenge to find a manufacturer that is suitable for the scale we require, because our cakes are not made using the typical high-carb, sugary ingredients.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

The best decision we made was to change our business plan once lockdown hit, and we pivoted to become an online only business. Deciding not to wait for lockdown to lift so we could resume with our original strategy ensured that our business grew by 600% and made our business stand out to UK retailers and international importers.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

As a start-up that is entirely self-funded, we have to be extremely conscious of our outgoings. We worked with a number of companies who had great reputations, and made lots of promises that they were ultimately unable to deliver on. It was a costly lesson to learn, and if we could go back in time, we would definitely not have worked with them

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

Receiving an email from a buyer from a well known and established retailer five months after we’d launched, requesting to list our products. I cried as soon as I read the email.

It was confirmation that our product was no longer a small, niche product, and the big players were waking up to the gap in the market for tasty no-added sugar goods.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

Global domination. In the run up to this, we are currently speaking with a number of retailers and we hope to see our range of products on the shelves of the UK biggest retailers.

We would love No Guilt Bakes to become a household name and to be the go-to brand for Brit’s that are looking for a tasty, healthier low-carb alternative.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Online bakery brand, No Guilt Bakes

Laura See talks to Business Matters about her journey to starting up her very own luxury shoe brand, Laura See London.

What does your business do/offer?

Luxury women’s shoes designed by me and hand made in Italy. The shoes feature a splash of my own artwork and a dainty gold hummingbird adorns the sole. The brand is focused on positive, fun and fearless women who appreciate quality, style and comfort.

Tell us the story behind your business?

After my husband passed away from cancer in 2015, I left my job in architectural design to move to Italy on a part scholarship, learning how to design shoes. On my return, I found it was impossible to get an internship, unless I wanted to work for a year unpaid, so when the first lockdown hit, I decided it was time to work on my own brand and collections.

I have always had a passion for shoes and I have painted from a young age so I decided to combine the two. Working in the design industry has also held me in good stead – without smart design a product will not work – footwear is the same. A shoe must support the foot, be wearable and aesthetically pleasing.

What is your background?

I had a completely different job prior to this but I have always worked in creative industries.  Although I enjoyed the jobs I’ve never felt truly fulfilled and have always wanted to do something that involved my passion for art and shoes.  I still find it hard to believe that I am now living my dream!

What does your role in the company consist of?

I do it all. I design the collections, work on marketing strategies and I’m building a network of women who will love and support the brand. I liaise with the factories in Italy as well as managing the content and photography that needs to be planned around each collection. It is full on!

What sets you apart from your competition?

My story is one that people can relate to it. I am from a working-class background and I am pursuing a dream – I have to make it happen for myself.  Laura See London shoes are unique and versatile – the splash of print and the birds adds an instant recognisable USP.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Mainly through social media, newsletters and networking. I speak to everyone – After all, you never know who you might be talking to. I am also holding my first Pop-Up shop in John Lewis on Oxford Street in London from 22^nd – 28^th November. That will be so exciting.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Challenging.  As with any new brand I have been finding my feet these last few months and it hasn’t been made easier with people not really being able to go anywhere; it has had it’s moments.  However, I believe timing is everything and things happen for a reason.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

I hope that it will become a brand that women love to talk about, can relate to and want to be part of the journey. The shoes will be stocked by some wholesalers and over the coming months I will be doing a lot more pop-ups as well as nurturing my direct-to-consumer business model.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Worrying that the brand will be well received, time constraints and with the factory being in Italy having to deal with issues as a result of Brexit.  There are always things going on behind the scenes, so you have to learn to be adaptable and resilient.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

No, it is all self-funded. It can be difficult at times but I am getting so much out of seeing the brand grow and knowing that my hard work has been worthwhile.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Dealing with factories. When you place small orders, it can be tricky to find factories who will work with small independent brands. Delays due to Brexit. Also trying to juggle two other jobs whilst building the brand.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

To spend a decent amount of money on branding and photography. Knowing where to spend and where you can do a lot of the leg work yourself is really key.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I would have hired a marketing and social media expert right at the start.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

When the first collection arrived, and I held the shoes with my name on the sole.  Also being featured in some amazing magazines and recently being named as one of TECHROUND’s top 26 Fashion Start-Ups of 2021.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

I would like my shoes to be stocked somewhere like Selfridges and all being well to have a store of my own where women can enjoy spending time choosing and trying on the shoes.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Luxury shoe company, Laura See London

Hannah Jones talks to us about her website design agency, Gift of the Gab, and how she got the business to where it is today.

Tell us a bit about your business?

Gift of the Gab was founded in 2017 off the back of work I had done for our family business. Using social media, I grew our family groundworks business (JG Jones Groundwork Services) hugely, eventually building my very first website for them and implementing search engine optimisation, and the results were fabulous! Another local company – K&R Decorators – approached me enquiring as to who had done our social media and website and when I told them it was me, they immediately hired me to do theirs and so Gift of the Gab was born.

What is your background?

I trained to be a bookkeeper and worked in various positions before having my first child at 22, followed by another three over the next ten years. During my ‘at home mum’ time I kept the groundworks company up to date, undertaking all the accounts and admin before starting on the marketing mentioned above. All my website design and associated services are completely self-taught using good old Google primarily. I adore learning and still have so much to research and implement.

How do you spread the word about your business?

I very rarely advertise Gift of the Gab – my clients do this for me! I have grown from West Sussex to covering the entire UK including Scotland by pretty much word of mouth only! Social media is powerful and the various business groups great in allowing people to ‘tag’ me and my business.

How has business been during Covid-19?

When the pandemic hit, I have to admit I was scared. My business is considered a luxury and I immediately lost clients – particularly in the entertainment industry and I also had work put back, some of which I am still waiting for. Obviously, this caused financial difficulties, however, with so many small businesses unable to open I started getting enquiries for e-commerce sites pouring in and so another adventure started.

Once the lockdown came to an end, people started wanting to push themselves again and so work returned to normal, and then second lockdown hit. I was not only working long hours but also responsible for the two youngest and their schoolwork – a schoolteacher I am absolutely not and the guys who teach deserve medals!

Things seem to be finally levelling out. The entertainment industry is picking up and needing me again so that is all good. I class myself as extremely lucky to have survived, many did not. I did try and help those that had to put their businesses on hold by stopping their payment plans and giving them free hosting.

What’s the hardest part about running a business?

Guilt! I was a full-time mum to my older girls and enjoyed the time to be able to be there, do things, take them places and do the housework to show home standards. The two youngest haven’t been so fortunate – although obviously I try my best, my house is now certainly no show home and I am immensely thankful for the Xbox and other technology!

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Every day is a challenge. I hardly ever say no and so immediately have to push myself to learn. This can be very stressful but so rewarding once I crack something.

Have you had any financial support?

I have never applied for any financial support. I work from home so have minimal overheads that way. I didn’t need masses of money to start up. I continued using the same laptop as I always had and then gradually built up to some pretty awesome computers.

What’s been the best decision you’ve made so far?

I don’t know if I’ve actually made one! I take things day by day, have a fabulous team behind me who brainstorm with me and have maybe yet to make it! Perhaps one day I will float the business for millions and emigrate to the Maldives? Now that would be a decision!

If you could change one thing, what would it be?

Hmm, maybe being too soft? I am easily sweettalked and it can be to my own financial detriment – I really need to man up but I’m not that sort of person!

What’s been your proudest achievement so far?

Wow, I have so many proud moments. Probably the biggest is a compliment from my wonderful husband, now business partner. Initially he was sceptical as to how long the Gab would last. I have been known to dip in and out of many projects and, although he has always supported me, I did feel like he was waiting for me to give in (not least all the times I was a blubbering wreck because I’d had a bad day or something was wrong or numerous other reasons). One morning I got to my desk to find a pink post it note telling me how very proud he is of me. That means everything and is a very proud moment. The note still resides on my notice board!

What are your hopes and dreams for the business?

Obviously, I would love to continue to grow, I would love to be able to increase productivity, maybe win some awards? That would be amazing.

I am so privileged to have a supporting husband, team, family and friends plus a great client base who are all rooting for me. Watch out world!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Website design company, Gift of the Gab

Joel Gujral explains how his personal experiences led him to start the mental health and wellbeing service, MYNDUP.

Tell us about your business?

Based in Epping Essex, I founded MYNDUP in February 2020 after I set out on a mission to help as many people in my situation as possible and to show the world that there is no single solution to mental health.

The business has grown significantly quarter on quarter, servicing over 50,000 employees from top global brands including Savills, Dentons, CVC, The Prince’s Trust and Avast. MYNDUP has been backed by CVC, LSEG and angel investors from Deutsche Bank, the London Stock Exchange Group and an ex-Microsoft Senior Exec.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

After tackling my own mental health battles brought on after I was in and out of hospital for eight months with an undiagnosed physical illness, I reached out for support within my company at the time, but those working directly above me didn’t know what support there was to offer. I was passed over to regional HR where they could only offer me counselling through occupational health support, but unfortunately, there were multiple more barriers to entry to receive this. The whole process was traumatic, and I couldn’t keep reliving my story with people that I didn’t know, so I paid for counselling privately. To my surprise this didn’t help, I found that it was very much focused on the past and what I needed at that point in time was something more future and solutions focused.

I came away feeling lost and just didn’t know where to turn to and I was fighting a losing battle. For weeks and weeks, I found myself researching what I could do to help and that is where I found a fantastic life coach online called Jermaine Harris, and he helped me to turn my life around. Because of this, I have set out on a mission to help as many people in my situation as possible and to show the world that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to mental health as well as changing the way organisations deal with this.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Since the company was founded in February 2020, it has been a combination of networking, a strong support system, social media, B2B sales and investing in an external PR and marketing agency.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

It has been fantastic because people have accepted virtual sessions more and more. I was the only full-time employee up until December 2020, but now we are up to a core team of nine. We started servicing The Office Group’s 400 employees across the UK and Europe in February 2020 and we are now servicing over 50,000 employees across 30+ countries with global brands like Savills, Dentons, Avast, CVC, and The Prince’s Trust.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Hiring a great founding team has been difficult. It has taken a period of trial and error but now the core team is fantastic and we really have found the right people.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

In total, we have received £500k, which has been made up from investments and grants from Angel Investors, CVC and LSEG.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

For us, keeping up with the momentum of the business growth. The business has doubled every six months in terms of revenue and client base. Although this has been challenging in some areas, we have pulled together as a team, delegated and managed which has meant that we have achieved a 100% client retention rate. This is a proud statistic for me as it means we are helping more and more people every single day!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Hiring practitioners abroad so we can help more and more people on a global scale and offer 24/7 coverage on the platform.

What is the one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

More fantastic team members. Now that we have raised our third round of seed funding, this is a top priority and we are actively recruiting.

What’s next for your business?

There is a lot still for us to do to make sure that we really put MYNDUP on the map. As well as recruiting more team members, a top priority for us is the global expansion to help more and more people across the world. We are also looking at implementing artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities into the business to create a fantastic matching service that can pair you with a person and a specialism based on how you are feeling. Finally, we will also be entering into our series A funding next year once we hit our first million in revenue. There is a lot to do, but I truly believe that MYNDUP has the capability to open people up to a new world of being intuitive with our mental health and make this subject a normal everyday talking point as it should be.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Virtual counselling business, MYNDUP

Rachael Halstead of cupcake delivery brand, Rachael’s Kitchen, discusses the ups and downs of running a successful bakery business.

What does your business offer?

We are the UKs leading cupcake delivery company, offering a range of almost 40 cupcake flavours including personalised options and delivering next day throughout the UK.

What’s the story behind your company?

 I started Rachael’s Kitchen in 2009. It was an exciting time to create an ecommerce business as it was a time that sparked a change in the way we shop and a shift in consumer expectation. I lived in London and in my mid-twenties, I was busy trying to build a career and spent much of my free time in pursuit of great food. I would spend weekends on the Portobello Road, Covent Garden and at Borough Market, seeking out delicious treats and trying new foods. Cupcakes were always a favourite of mine and I love to give gifts and spending time choosing the perfect gift for friends and family – it’s an expression of love when you pick out something thoughtful and personal to the recipient. At the time I thought how great it would be to be able to send beautiful gift boxes of cupcakes to friends I couldn’t easily see or if I was unable to attend a special occasion. That was my lightbulb moment – not because I looked to build a cupcake delivery business but because there must be more people like me who love the ritual of gift-giving and I wanted to do it to the best of my ability.

What is your background?

I originally trained as an accountant and embarked on a role in academia post-grad. I really enjoyed the teaching element but after a couple of years I wanted to experience a little more practice than theory. I worked in London for a few years in a small strategy consultancy which gave me great exposure across the business and I had an incredible female founder as a role model to learn from. Through working for her I gained experience and confidence, I loved the marketing side and nurturing client relationships. It was at this point I had the idea to start the business, having a background in numbers together with experience in the small business sphere were hugely helpful.

What sets you apart from your competition?

We have two revenue streams: firstly, our direct customer ordering a gift box of cupcakes online for delivery and secondly our B2B corporate customer. Our corporate business makes up around 65% of our turnover and we position ourselves as the only cupcake marketing agency. For corporate clients we create cupcakes for events and exhibitions, product launches, engagement campaigns, sales pitches, in-house celebrations and in-store promotions. The cupcakes are a marketing tool and ROI is important. We go to great lengths to ensure the cupcakes we send are on brand, beautifully presented and reflect the brand integrity of the client. We help clients to engage with their audience through social channels and maximise the impact of the campaign.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We are lucky to have a large amount of repeat custom and referral. It’s lovely to see the daisy chain of receiver sending our cakes to another as a gift and so on. As we scale the business, we are very much looking strengthen the brand and build reputation.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

We have been incredibly lucky. We have been very busy and have grown significantly. At the beginning of the first lockdown, our entire corporate client base disappeared overnight but our B2C business skyrocketed. It was an emotional time for everyone, and I have never felt so connected and grateful to our customers. Phone conversations felt more personal, so much sentiment went into gift-giving and I think it changed something in society generally. We experienced huge challenges with supplies and the delivery networks. It was a tough and humbling time.

I had my third baby last September and was working 60-hour weeks right up until he arrived – we all worked hard and felt grateful to have a business and jobs. In the last six months, the landscape has changed again, we are still busier than pre-covid and glad to see the return of our B2B clients.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

I have had to grow with the business, and I do have to work at my leadership style. Before I had a family my strategy of leading by example, being amongst the team especially when we were stretched and feeling a real bond with my colleagues during difficult times was my flavour of leadership. As we’ve grown it’s not possible to always be first in, last out and volunteering for every task that needed doing. I think it has set the culture and I am blown away by my team’s loyalty, strength and camaraderie but it’s evolved now. I have some team members who have to protect my time a little and keep me away from the day-to-day. I love working ‘on the tools’ as well as sketching out growth strategies and making blue sky plans for the future but it can be all consuming to be in both camps.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

My dad once lent me £300 out of his pension to pay the rent on the commercial unit – that was in the early days and wow money was tight! On a more serious note, we were able to trade throughout the Covid lockdown and were one of the lucky ones.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

In the early years it was primarily finding the delivery partners who could successfully deliver a fragile product in perfect condition and quickly. The logistics infrastructure and service agreement has come an incredibly long way since I ventured into ecommerce. Possibly the experience of Covid has changed our buying habits forever and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Probably to focus on our corporate clientele. It’s great not to have all your eggs in one basket and I’m grateful we are moderately diversified – our B2B business is the natural marriage of my corporate experience coupled with my understanding of effective marketing and all through the medium of cake! I feel proud of the service we offer and that we invested in making each campaign maximum impact and excellent value.

I am very much instinct led. If something feels right or wrong, I will be led primarily by that hunch. I also like to take risks (I love a bet or a game of poker) but I’m also very careful with money. I think it’s a strange mix to be pro-risk but also feel loss aversion keenly. In some ways I think it’s not a bad profile for a small business owner but if I ever regret a decision, it is usually because I’ve been spooked by my cautious side.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

This is a tricky one to answer, of all the mishaps and hard-learned lessons along the way they have shaped where we are today. I’ve had to take my medicine at points, and it’s made me a better leader for it.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Cupcake delivery company, Rachael’s Kitchen

Luke Dawson, founder of Cofortis, explains how his company is taking steps to improve the wellbeing of employees in the workplace.

Tell us about your business?

At Cofortis, we work with chartered psychologists to design bespoke wellbeing strategies for employees. Simply, I believe that everyone deserves the right support. But, that’s a very hard thing to provide – especially at an organisational level. The proactive support that someone needs to feel maximally inspired and productive is entirely dependent on who they are, what industry they’re in, and what they’re doing!

In other words, it can be extremely hard for organisations to comprehensively audit their employees’ wellbeing. It’s even harder to implement—exactly—the right interventions in response to data collected by that audit. That’s where we come in. We help organisations design bespoke strategies for auditing and proactively supporting their employees wellbeing.

Firstly, we let you tell us what areas of wellbeing you’d either like to measure or improve, because your wellbeing initiative will always depend on your specific organisation and employees. We’ll then go away and design a bespoke questionnaire that’s designed specifically to capture the information most relevant to your objectives and requirements.

Now, most of the questions in the wellbeing questionnaire are quantitative. That means we can export the data and visually see, instantly, where we need to focus your wellbeing strategy in order to have the biggest impact on your employees’ wellbeing and performance. Then, your psychologist will meet with you or your team on a monthly basis to coach you through your wellbeing strategy implementation.

When you’re ready, we just send the same survey again and measure the difference – it’s a baseline comparison analysis. So, we can actually measure the impact of your interventions, which were backed and supported by our chartered psychologists.

What is your background?

I studied Philosophy at University College London, then worked in tech for around three years. One thing Philosophy taught me was to always investigate the root-cause of whatever interesting challenge I was contending with.

When I first started to explore how I could help organisations to create tailored wellbeing interventions for their employees, I began by exploring the core issue. That is, it’s very hard to open up about what support you need in the workplace, which means it’s often very hard for organisations to know how to best support their employees. That’s why we work with a network of industry-specialising psychologists to help organisations understand where to look, and what to look for, and what to do with the information they find! It’s amazing.

What sets you apart from your competition?

It’s simple. We provide extremely tailored support, that’s specific to you, and your employees’ needs. Everything is bespoke, from the survey, to the wellbeing strategy, to the techniques that you work with your dedicated psychologist to deliver. We’re here to support you, by helping you to support your employees.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

I feel as though our attitude towards wellbeing is shifting incredibly quickly; we understand how vital proactive support is for ensuring individual and organisational success. I believe we’re beginning to understand how every specific company requires its own specific employee wellbeing strategy.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Switching off. When you truly believe in what you’re doing; when you truly have a mission, it’s hard do, or think about, anything other than that.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Spreading the word! We want more people to know our mission and give us their ideas of how we can best support their people.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Deciding to pursue a vision that I knew I should pursue. If you really believe in what you’re doing, you have to chase it. You just have to. You’ll regret it otherwise.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I’m not sure I’d change anything. Everything you do is a learning experience, which means even when things don’t go exactly as you thought they would, they’re valuable experiences.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

Having the courage to take the first step and set up my own company. It can be a very daunting move, but for me – it was the only right one!

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

I want every organisational and HR director in the UK to hear the name ‘Cofortis’ and instantly think ‘Bespoke wellbeing strategy, tailored to us, supported by experts.’

Read more:
Made in Britain: Health and wellbeing firm, Cofortis

James Coughlan, founder of Reef.Global, explains how his business is making the new norm of hybrid working much easier for businesses and employees. 

What does your business offer?

Reef.Global creates third workspaces. This is going to be increasingly important as we all enter this new era of remote and hybrid working.

In essence, we aim to bridge gaps between office working and home working. We will connect businesses with hospitality venues across the world via an app. Bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels can specify what space they have available for people to come in and work from (and when). Businesses can then subscribe to the app for their workforce, allowing employees to find appropriate and convenient space to work.

The main benefits are that it aids remote workers/employees mental health and wellbeing, providing suitable places to work, space to socialise and a way to keep home and work lives a bit more separate. I think we forget that not everyone has suitable places to work at home, and for some people it can be very lonely.

It also decreases employer costs and helps transition to a hybrid workforce. There’s no denying that businesses are cutting office space, so this is an easy way for them to help provide alternate working locations to their teams.

As well as this, it increases hospitality footfall – but strictly at times when they know they have capacity.

What was the inspiration behind the company?

The idea came from my own personal experience. I actually had the idea and began creating the app a year before Covid-19 was even heard about. I was fed up having to work from the same, unfulfilling spaces when travelling, so I decided to create an app where people can find their perfect workspaces, wherever they are in the world.

But then the pandemic came along and actually, that has meant this idea is even more relevant and timely. Creating an app like this, and sourcing the venues, isn’t something which is done overnight, so we’ve spent the last 18-months getting everything in place and now we’re ready to launch.

What is your background?

For over the past 10 years, I have worked within sales and marketing, from assistant to C-Level. I have been office-based, worked from home and been a remote worker across these roles, making me a perfect persona for Reef.

What sets you apart from your competition?

Our main USP is our global venue reach, with us already having venues in five countries across the globe, and that will continue to increase. Also, from a hospitality venue perspective, from our research we are the only platform that integrates directly into booking platforms, such as DesignMyNight and OpenTable, to reduce the amount of software used in hospitality. This makes Reef a more seamless experience for venues – which means they’re more likely to use it and see the benefits. We are also putting a heavy emphasis on the mental health and wellbeing of employees, whilst helping companies transition into a hybrid workforce. We’ll be running networking events at Reef venues for companies to meet up and there’ll be perks and discounts for members too and an encrypted internal company chat facility.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We are running a few local online marketing campaigns, targeting specific areas where we have venues through a variety of channels. We are also doing PR and social media activity and running offline marketing strategies by attending events and pushing word of mouth.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Obviously during lockdowns hospitality venues were closed and people needed to work at home, so due to the nature of our business, we haven’t been able to launch due to Covid-19. But this has given us the opportunity to finesse our product, by adding extra features and improving the user experience.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

We are seeing a month-on-month increase in the UK of the number of businesses moving to a hybrid workforce due to Covid-19, and the trend is looking like it is here to stay. We plan to help these businesses thrive moving forward with hybrid working, so there’s every reason to think the market will only grow. As we gain more venues on the app it will hopefully be helping businesses at both ends – those looking for workspace and those looking for customers.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

You have to become an expert in a lot of different areas of business! Which is interesting but it can be tough juggling the different parts of sales, marketing, finance, legals etc, and getting to a point where it is affordable to hire people to aid with this via employing or outsourcing. Also, finding the right people for this is hard.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We received funding from the BBLS which helped us carry on through lockdown. We are currently looking for investment to help us hit our global goals quicker.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

The team we have in place. We have a great, knowledgeable team in this sector, which has been a great help for us to get to where we are today.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

Probably to plan in a lot more detail. I had a plan, but it was very top level, whereas our more immediate planning was very reactive. I’ve learnt from that! We have now planned in advance in more detail and have been achieving much better results because of it.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

We have brought on some amazing hospitality venue brands in the last few weeks, which has allowed us to cover most of the UK, offering our users more freedom and more choice. We have also signed venues in the US and Europe, which is exciting.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

We want to have venues and customers on all continents across the world, with over £1m in monthly recurring revenue. We also want to be the platform that has helped remote workers/employees improve their mental health and wellbeing when moving to a hybrid culture, by creating collaboration and a space to work from, other than home, that suits their needs.

Read more:
Made in Britain: James Coughlan of Reef.Global

Elisabeth Clare talks about how founding her business, Cell Regeneration & MBST UK, changed her life around.

What is the background to your business?

MBST UK is a business servicing physiotherapy clinics around the UK. We are the sole, dedicated UK importer and license holders of MBST machines; a non-invasive therapy that restores and rejuvenates cells. The therapy is a technological innovation used to counteract the negative effects of degenerative disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Based in Tinwell in Rutland, I founded Cell Regeneration & MBST UK with my brother, Charlie, in 2011. I have always wanted to be part of something that truly matters, but I simply wasn’t finding that meaning or purpose in my career. After an unfulfilling start in the media, I lost two people I cared deeply about in an accident that made me reflect on my life.

Our business technically started where all great ideas start, in the local pub. I bought Charlie a pint and asked him how he felt about opening our own MBST clinic and providing the technology to the UK, and before we knew it we were in the first stages of setting up our own company.

Our initial vision when opening our own clinic was to one day distribute the technology throughout the UK and become involved with the treatment of elite sports athletes and sports clubs. We are already on our way to achieving the next stage of our vision, having treated a few Olympians in the past few months alone.

Health is so important to me; whether it is mental, physical or emotional health, I wanted to make a difference in my life and help people who think that surgery or living with pain is their only option.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

My mother, Ann, a reputable Physiotherapist, came across MBST at an Osteoarthritis conference in London, in 2007. She immediately saw its potential and started to use the technology from a small practice she ran out of the family home. Reading the thank you letters from patients and seeing the results first-hand made me think this technology was a real game-changer and one that needed to be championed.

Then in 2008, after a freak accident where I fell from a stage and needed treatment, I witnessed the amazing results of MBST therapy first hand and I knew that this technology was special. Ever since then I have been deeply passionate about the results MBST delivers to patients all over the world.

Fast forward a few years, after completing my degree in media and marketing I worked for two different media companies over a four-year period, first in event organisation and promotion, and then in digital marketing for magazines and radio.

After re-evaluating my priorities, I realised that my life was going down a different path to one I had imagined, which is when I approached my brother about working together. My years in corporate enabled me to learn some vital business lessons and skills that have served me well with MBST UK and Cell Regeneration ltd.

What is your point of difference?

Our company is the sole UK importer of MBST machines. MBST therapy is a technological innovation used to counteract the negative effects of degenerative disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The principle of MBST technology is based on the use of magnetic resonance, electromagnetic fields, originally used for MRI diagnosis. Unlike MRI, MBST does not use magnetic resonance to generate images, but rather to biophysically stimulate the regenerative processes of specific cells or tissues at a molecular level.

It offers a comfortable, uncomplicated and sustainable therapy, and in several cases has eliminated the need for surgery. It’s also very user-friendly, easy to implement, non-invasive, and effective on patients of all ages. From the initial diagnosis through to aftercare, every patient is fully supported throughout the entire process by healthcare professionals and trained technicians, it is a completely stress-free treatment.

During therapy, there is little to do but lay back and let MBST work for you. Most patients bring a book, listen to music, or just take a nap during the hour of comfortable therapy.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Initially, spreading the word was limited to advertising in local newspapers and magazines, as at the time we only had one clinic. Here we found certain publications served us best, as they reached audiences who sought to stay active and healthy, bringing new clients through our door.

However, now that we have a network of clinics it has made things a little easier to spread the news far and wide. We work with a PR agency who help us with all our media relations. Physical and musculoskeletal health impacts everybody, so that gives us a broad canvas to paint with when trying to grow a presence in the media to reach as many people as possible.

We also have a strong social media presence, but perhaps more importantly, we’ve created a community amongst our clinics. Individuals who have received treatment often want to spread the good word themselves. People need to trust in the healthcare they receive, so our social media channels are important to us for reaching out to those who are thinking about having MBST treatment.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

We used the opportunity of the enforced slow-down to manage changes within the business. Though our capacity was reduced, after two weeks we were able to treat patients again as the MBST devices don’t actually involve human contact.

Thankfully, we were able to stay open for most of the lockdowns and enjoyed a successful year. We have gone from strength to strength despite the pandemic, growing our turnover by 100% and achieving record numbers of device orders. The team has also spent the year developing new plans and solutions. This past year has made me far more reactive, and I have fallen into a comfortable rhythm, even when things don’t go as planned. We can always find a solution, and it’s about how we react to the unexpected and move forward that makes us successful.

I just like to remind myself that everything can be resolved and there is always another way around an issue. I really do believe business is going to seem a lot easier post-pandemic as we have become more resilient than ever and more reactive to the challenges and opportunities around us.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

For us, it has been about communication, especially in a COVID world, as all the clinics have been more separated, so to speak. We can’t catch up in person on a weekly basis anymore, and for me, meeting in person is very important. I feel that you get so much more out of a face to face meeting, people are just more present, more open, and want to connect more.

But moving away from the big ‘C’ word that has consumed our life for the past 18 months, Brexit has been far more problematic. Like many British businesses, we import, so we’ve had to contend with the additional charges, red tape, delays, and so on.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

Our initial start-up costs were covered by my brother and business partner, Charlie. Since then, we’ve been very fortunate in that we haven’t needed much in the way of assistance.

We took out a security bounce back loan for the Covid pandemic, but we were fortunate enough that we didn’t need to touch it so that went straight back to the bank.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Challenges come in all shapes and sizes, Brexit and COVID have been two external issues that we couldn’t control but could react to. Running your own business there will always be a series of obstacles that you need to solve, but it is actually something I quite enjoy.

Besides this, the biggest challenge we had initially with bringing a new medical device into the UK market was gaining recognition, acceptance and even trust. However, we are at a great stage of growth because we are now sustainable. It has taken us ten years to reach this point, and whilst it still feels ‘early’ in the development I am excited about our progress so far, and where we are going.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Without a doubt, the best decision for us has been getting the license for MBST in the UK. That was probably the best move we could ever have made. The business is my baby and learning how to delegate and let go has been a huge step forward for myself. However above all, just starting this business journey in the first place, really has been brilliant.

Any regrets?

I regret what it took to light the fire underneath me in order to make changes and ultimately start the business, I wish it hadn’t taken losing two people very close to me to push me into action.

What is the one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

We are expanding as a business, so the need for additional team members is a must. Hiring more staff to fill important roles would allow me more time to focus on certain aspects like better communication, growth, making the entire experience, and cost, more pleasing to our clients.

What’s next for your business?

This year marks a decade since the company launched. In that time we have created a flagship physiotherapy clinic providing MBST in Rutland and expanded our community of MBST health professionals to include eleven additional facilities across England. 2021 also saw the introduction of two brand new clinics in Cheltenham and the prestigious Harley Street, with more in the pipeline.

Now restrictions have eased, I look forward to seeing my health professionals and visiting all of our new sites around the country. I hope and believe it will make us cherish human connection further. In business, I believe that anything is possible, the big goal for me is that I am aiming to have an MBST clinic in every county across England in the next five years.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Cell Regeneration & MBST UK

Jessica Redman explains why she ditched life in the corporate world to launch her very own online personal training brand. 

What is your business all about?

Work That is an online wellness platform offering personal training, fitness classes, nutrition and counselling. It was founded in February 2020 after I left my role in SEO for a corporate travel company. I graduated with a degree in media and comms and worked both agency and in-house in marketing and SEO roles, before qualifying as a personal trainer.

At Work That I am head coach, so I train clients and create programmes. I also head up the marketing aspect of the business, SEO and manage the day-to-day admin.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

I originally co-founded a physical studio but realised that face to face PT was too expensive for lots of people. Online was an opportunity to be more financially accessible and flexible for people who don’t like gyms.

What is your point of difference?

We are anti-fad diets. We never talk about body image as a goal and we actively critique the industry’s focus on aesthetics.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We use Facebook groups, Instagram, PR, flyering, paid social (sometimes) and encourage word of mouth with refer a friend schemes.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

It’s been good with gyms closing! I’ve been really happy with the take up.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Keeping current customers happy whilst also trying to drive more take up. It’s multitasking to the next level.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Spreading the word. There’s so much noise out there that it’s hard to really penetrate the market. Paid advertising is pretty ineffective unless you’ve got a huge budget, so we rely heavily on word of mouth.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Quitting my first business and starting this one. I was afraid of letting my co-founders down but it was a decision that I’m really happy I was brave enough to make.

I had to sever emotional ties and make a decision with my head – I read a book at the time that said “if you’re going to fail, fail quickly” and a lightbulb switched on. I could see it wasn’t working for me and I had no time to dwell because every day was a day I could be working on something more fruitful.

Any regrets?

Mixing friendship with business. I will choose very carefully who I decide to make that step with in the future. Business changes the dynamic of your relationship and you can end up seeing a side to a friend you don’t like and it can change things.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

Help! Honestly, it’s not even necessarily more money (although I wouldn’t say no), it’s just having enough hands on deck to get all the ideas in action.

Although, more money would mean more hires, so yes, money!

What’s next for your business?

We’re going to expand with specialised Work That personal trainers who do our specialised course once they’re qualified.

This will be about the language we use to motivate, moving away from aesthetics, and also training people in an effective and safe way. Too many gyms injure people and we want to make exercise pain free!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Online personal training brand, Work That

Former New York Times writer Benji Lanyado of Picfair.com explains how his company is changing the world of online photography.

Tell us about your business?

I’m Benji Lanyado, the CEO and founder of Picfair.com. Picfair is a photography platform that powers over half a million photography portfolios across the globe. Our free store builder helps any photographer sell their images in multiple formats at prices they choose – with ecommerce, print production and global delivery all neatly baked into the design.

What was the inspiration behind your business?

I used to be a travel writer for the Guardian and the New York Times, and spent a huge amount of time sourcing imagery for my pieces. It drove me crazy that the only options available to me were crappy, inauthentic agency stock images.

I started digging into the mechanics of buying and selling images online and was amazed by how broken it was. Amateurs were almost completely excluded, the licensing systems were a quagmire, and the agencies were shafting their photographers by keeping the vast majority of the royalties to themselves. I became obsessed with creating a platform that allowed any photographer to sell an image to anyone, in any format, simply and fairly.

I quit my job and learned how to code at night classes, then built the first version of Picfair myself. It was initially a marketplace, but the business really exploded when we took the technology we’d developed for the marketplace and baked it into a standalone store product – giving photographers all the tools they need to showcase and sell their images, and doing all the heavy lifting (licensing, print production, global shipping etc) when they make a sale.

We now have over 500,000 photographers from across the globe using Picfair-powered stores, which have become the main focus of the business.

What does your role in the company consist of?

As Picfair has grown, I’ve generally attached myself to whatever I think the most important part of the business is, before then replacing myself in that role. Initially I was writing code, then I was doing sales, then I was managing product, and then I found people much better than me to do all that stuff. These days I’m focused on performance advertising and brand marketing and growing the team.

What sets you apart from your competition?

Our product is comprehensive – we deal with everything from image metadata enrichment to watermark protection to ecommerce to print production and global shipping. And it’s wildly simple to use – the vast majority of our users are launching an online portfolio for the first time. We’re also the only platform to offer both a store builder and a marketplace with a single point of upload, and we’re the only platform to offer an entry-level product for free (photographers can upgrade their store functionality for a subscription fee).

How do you spread the word about your business?

We’ve been very active on social media – with almost 200k followers across various platforms. We’ve also baked viral hooks into the product – the free versions of Picfair stores display our “powered by Picfair” branding on it, meaning every time someone launches a store, they’re also launching a little Picfair advert. Recently, we’ve invested in performance marketing on Facebook & Google, which we do all in-house.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Really strong. A lot of people turned or returned to photography as a hobby during the pandemic and launching your first photography site was a good way for thousands of people to pass the time while locked down. We grew from 100k to 400k photographers in 2020. Encouragingly, the momentum has continued as the pandemic has abated in our core markets (UK, Europe & North America).

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

We’re most excited about a whole generation of iphonographers starting to take their photography more seriously, as the power of smartphones and mobile editing software improves exponentially. Owning a DSLR used to be the number one indicator that you’re a potential Picfair user. Now if you’re a young photographer who takes their time choosing the right instagram filter or loves fiddling around with mobile presets and post-shot editing apps, you’re just as likely to be a Picfair photographer as someone with a Canon 5D.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

For me, it has been raising investment while Picfair established our product and market. Raising money is a huge time drain that entails a lot more failure than success, and it pulls you away from the thing you want to be doing most – building the business. It has become easier as the business has grown, as I’ve been able to move from pitching with my heart to pitching with a financial model (and heart).

We’ve got an amazing array of investors. There are a few institutions on our cap table but it’s mostly angels – including Alexis Ohanian of Reddit (otherwise known as Mr Serena Williams), Anthony Eskinazi of Just Park, and Chris Sheldrick of what3words.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Recently, it’s been onboarding new team members while working remotely. I’m a real convert to remote working and Picfair team members now work wherever they are most productive and happy, but onboarding new starters is really tough via Zoom. So much of what you learn in a new role is via osmosis. It’s meant we’ve had to really double down on how we introduce new team members and support them as they integrate.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Experimenting with a standalone photography store product to complement the marketplace – it exploded the business. Also hiring a social media intern in the early days of the company who has gone on to become our COO.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I wasted a lot of time in the early days of the company trying to raise VC cash because I thought raising VC cash was the cool thing to do. I’m very glad everyone rejected me because it would’ve been the wrong kind of investment at that stage of the business. In retrospect it was my ego that drove my VC pursuit – I was told that it was impossible for a first-time founder to raise VC cash so became determined to do it.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

Getting the business off the ground in the first place. I think that’s the hardest bit – working out how to make an idea into a real thing that people actually use.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

That Picfair becomes the number one brand in online photography. We want every photographer on the planet to have heard of us.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Online photography brand, Picfair.com

Stephanie White talks to us about how a bad experience in the corporate world led to the creation of her business, By The Way Creative.

Tell us about your business?

My name is Stephanie White and I am a Hampshire-based businesswoman and founder of copywriting agency, By The Way Creative.

After I graduated with my degree in English Literature, I went into my one and only corporate role, leading the marketing team in a small, but high-pressure company. I found it to be a strict, stifling, and sexist environment, and the atmosphere and long workdays soon took their toll. When I calculated that my hourly rate (due to all the unpaid overtime and long hours) was less than when I had worked as a waitress (a job I actually loved), I decided to resign from my corporate job, and returned to waitressing in order to pay the bills.

My husband (then boyfriend) owned his own business, which meant I was very envious of his freedom and flexibility and wanted to follow suit as an entrepreneur. I’ve always loved writing, so doing it for a living felt like a natural fit. It was in April 2017 on my kitchen table that I established my copywriting agency By The Way Creative.

The name actually came from a blog I had in 2015 – I used to sign it off with “By the way it’s Stephanie,” as I wanted people to stop calling me by my nickname, so when the time came to name the business, it was ready and waiting.

My main purpose now is to help give female entrepreneurs a voice, empowering them to have the confidence to use their words to go after what they want, helping to create a generation of assertive women.

How do you spread the word about your business?

It’s been a combination of networking, a strong support system, social media, and investing in PR. We’re lucky in this day and age that we have the power of Instagram and Facebook for example, enabling us to reach so many more people, especially during a time when we were locked down! The key, I find, is to stay true to yourself – don’t push yourself so far out of your comfort zone that it becomes unbearable, but strive every day to be a better version of you – whatever that looks like to you.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Since March 2020, my entire life has changed. When the pandemic hit, I’d just spent my last drop of savings on a VIP day with a coach. Then literally two weeks later the world closed down and I went into panic mode. Of course, none of us had any idea how we would cope or what would happen. I even had a look at full-time jobs online as I was convinced this could really be the end for me and my business.

After a month or so, I realised that perhaps all was not lost. I’d been planning on launching my first group programme, Wake Up + Smell The Copy, but had parked it out of fear. In the summer of 2020, I decided to just go for it and we launched – And then I launched again, and again! By the end of the year, I’d launched my own programme three times and I’d launched a joint passive product.

In short, I quadrupled my turnover during the pandemic. Because I was able to scale the business to six-figures in a year, my husband was able to take a step back and focus on his own goals. He’s taken time off to train in areas he’s interested in and fully invest in getting the coaching and support he needs to go after his dreams – safe in the knowledge that the bills are paid and I can support us. I think this is an incredible learning curve for us as a couple.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s been really hard at points, but overall, it’s going to make us so much stronger and shows each other just how much we’re willing to do for each other and for our greater purpose together.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Balance! The pandemic has allowed us to invest a lot of time in the business aspect of our lives, but it’s made it easy to neglect actual life!

I think the ongoing challenge for myself and other business owners will be reclaiming our social lives and the existence we once had outside our businesses.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

I am self-funded. I took the last of my savings and invested in a VIP coaching day – this was a massive four-figure leap, so not an insignificant decision, and it changed my business. It was that day that I came up with the idea for my copywriting programme, Wake Up + Smell the Copy, which has since evolved into a self-study course and sold in the five figures. Since then, I have frequently reinvested into By The Way Creative, most recently into the conversion to a limited company, and have expanded the team to six incredible women and numerous external suppliers as we’ve scaled to the six-figure turnover mark and beyond!

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

I think my biggest obstacles were the ones in my mind. I know now that you can achieve anything you put your mind and heart to but back then, especially as a young woman whose confidence had taken a battering both professionally and personally, it was easier said than done.

The first step was quitting my corporate job. It brought me no joy and was affecting my mental health massively. Slowly, with the support of my now-husband, friends, and peers, I overcame these self-imposed obstacles and thrived.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Other than starting the business? Using it for good.

I really do feel passionate about trying to right the wrongs in our world. The main thing for me I suppose is that there are just too many beings in the world – people and animals. So, I want to ease the burden on the planet. I am super passionate about the environment and education, as I believe that overpopulation and education levels go hand in hand.

The main way I am trying to do my part is a mission called ‘30 under 30’, where I intend for my business By The Way Creative to sponsor thirty girls from underdeveloped countries to stay in school. We currently sponsor one girl, in Guatemala, and I am 27 – so fully intend to reach my goal. By keeping girls in school, they have more choices available to them than just marrying and having children, which in turn reduces overpopulation and the subsequent burden on the world’s food production.

My business is totally carbon offset, and I have adopted several foreign rescue animals as they are the ones no-one else wants. While there are animals in rescue there is no need for breeding. I am vegetarian and intend to only have one child – if any.

Any regrets?

Not getting coaching sooner! When I first started out, I had no idea the coaching world even existed! I found courses and a few memberships, but had I found coaching earlier I think I’d have scaled even faster.

If I could go back, I would start cultivating those inspiring relationships much earlier in my business career. 

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

Unlimited energy! Running a business is so exciting and we want to do everything at once. Having more energy and not being limited by burnout prevention would be magical (but unfeasible!)

What’s next for your business?

The world is my oyster! My business has achieved more than I ever thought possible – we’re heading head-first into multi-six-figures – so what’s stopping me from achieving even more? I plan to meet more people, more clients and more mentors. There’s really no limit and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for By The Way Creative.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Copywriting agency, By The Way Creative

Paul Brown of BOL foods explains his journey from a director at Innocent to launching a fully plant-based food organization.   

Who are you and what is your business all about?

I am Paul Brown, 42, founder and CEO of BOL foods. At BOL, we make it easy and delicious for everyone to eat more plants and do their bit for the planet.  We make 100% plant-based meals and snacks that are completely natural, high in plant protein and contain up to 3 of your 5-a-day, as well as always being delicious and nutritious. BOL foods now has six product ranges: veg pots, power pots, posh noodles, power soups, dinner boxes, centrepieces & sharing bites and salad jars which are available nationwide.

What’s the story behind the business?

My story starts in the mountains. I tried and failed to become a professional athlete. I ended up in California where food and healthy food in particular overtook sport as my number one passion and became a career focus. I wrote my first business plan which was to start a healthy food business.

In 2001 I joined innocent. After humble beginnings in the grassy van where I started to learn about running a business with deep rooted values, beliefs and big vision, I ended up as director of their food division.

In 2015, following the acquisition by Coke in 2015, it soon became apparent that innocent would be refocusing its efforts on drinks. With some big ideas, I knew it was time for a change. With both Innocent and Coke’s blessing, I landed backing from Innocent founders (Jam Jar investments) and launched BOL on 26th April 2015.

The first couple of years were tough, as I think they are for most founders, although we celebrated a lot of successes – Winning new business of the year at the National Business Awards in 2016, showed that both consumers and businesses saw the value in what BOL was doing. Then it all changed…

As I got closer to the industrialisation of the food system, I saw what negative impacts the meat, fish and dairy industries were having on the environment and our health, and so in 2017 we turned the business entirely plant-based, effectively halving the size of our business overnight.  It was a huge risk, but we were absolutely committed to doing the right thing by the planet.

By 2018, we became the first FMCG brand globally to strategically pivot and go 100% plant-based for ethical reasons, better for you and kinder to the planet.

This is our seventh year of trading. The pandemic was tough for us as an on-the-go food brand, but we chose to focus on future innovation and this summer were able to launch our a huge new range of meal and snacks to help us on our journey to becoming the UK’s number one plant-powered brand.

What is your point of difference?

At BOL, everything we make is 100% natural and ultimately made by Mother Nature. This point differentiates us from many of the vegan food and drink products available around the UK now who often use highly processed ingredients.

We know there are 20,000 edible plants on the planet, but around 70% of what we eat comes from three: corn, wheat, and rice. As a brand we’re on a mission to discover many more exciting plant-based ingredients and make it easy for people to enjoy eating a variety of delicious plant-based foods.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We make sure we get people hearing about BOL wherever they consume their media.  This summer we launched our biggest ever new range into Tesco and Sainsbury’s and have accompanied that with a nationwide media campaign: “Because all protein comes from plants” which aims to debunk the myth that you can’t get enough protein from plants. We’ll be running this on poster sites across the country, through social media (organic and paid), and through press, and consumer word of mouth. We also have tens of thousands of BOLievers that support us, and we talk to them regularly in lots of different ways whether that’s on our social media channels, on our blog, or at BOL events.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Covid-19 has had a damaging effect on many businesses not just ours. Covid-19 effectively halved the size of our business overnight, Q1 2020 was our biggest quarter ever and by mid-March our out of home business was almost entirely wiped out and our grocery channel hit by significantly reduced footfall.

We partnered with some excellent charities to ensure that our out-of-life products would go to good use and delivered more than 22,000 meals to critical workers and those in need (NHS, Age UK, London Ambulance Service).

While most companies were cutting innovation, we developed lots of new recipes, and we are really proud that despite the challenging circumstances, we have started the summer in more UK fridges than ever before and our Q1 2021 was the largest to date, enabling us to feed the UK 3m healthy plant-powered meals in the quarter.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Starting up on your own is never easy. There’s nothing glamorous about it; it quickly becomes all-encompassing compared to a normal job. It becomes your life, not just your 9-5 job – and you’ve got to realise that most people working for you won’t feel the same pressure and passion that you do.

I quickly realised how I had to find the ‘yes’ in the ‘no’. When I came up against retailers, suppliers, or manufacturers saying something wasn’t possible, I wasn’t prepared to compromise on what I knew would be best for BOL, and so I had to find alternative ways that would convince them to take a chance on me (and luckily they’ve all paid off!) and I’m still working with many of the same suppliers who trusted me at the beginning.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Switching to 100% plant-based was a tough time for the brand and the team. We halved our business and I told the team to get their CV’s ready, just in case. After we dropped meat and dairy completely, much of our 2018 was spent in the kitchen developing new recipes and coming up with new ideas. At the end of the day, taste is the most important thing in what we do. All that said, as tricky a time as it was, obstacles are much easier to overcome when you know you’re doing right by the planet with the business decisions you’re making. As it was, we bounced back with triple digit growth in the same year. Going fully plant based is easily still the best decision we ever made.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

The industrialisation of the food system, particularly in the Western world is having a hugely negative impact on both the planet and the health of many populations. If people were more educated on where their food comes from and the negative impacts of many highly processed options, then I believe society as a whole would benefit. In short therefore, increase the respect for good quality food and the impact our food choices have on people and planet everyday.

What’s next for your business?

We’ve just embarked on our biggest ever launch, introducing 14 new recipes into Tesco and Sainsbury’s nationwide, but we have so much more we want to do for the brand, and for the planet. We want to develop more recipes and more range options, as well as continuing to plant our BOL Forest – so far, we have planted 36,000 trees-a mix of oak, birch, sycamore, cherry, alder, and willow (currently at sapling stage!) and our goal is to deliver 100m+ portions of veg by the end of 2023.

In the next two years we plan to launch internationally and triple the amount of top talent working on the business.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Plant-based food brand, BOL foods

Hector Macandrew details his innovative invoice platform, Hydr, and explains how it is changing the perception of invoice finance.

Tell us about your business?

My name is Hector Macandrew and I am co-founder of Hydr. Hydr is a proprietary, digital invoice finance platform. We pay 100% of your invoice, minus our fixed fee, within 24 hours. This helps businesses optimise their cash flow.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

Invoice finance isn’t particularly new; it has been around for a long time. It enables businesses to unlock the cash tied up in outstanding invoices, rather than waiting weeks or months for them to be paid.  It is a positive, powerful tool to manage cash flow, particularly during those capital-intensive periods of a company’s economic cycle.

We were founded last August and started trading in May 2021. We are headquartered at Enterprise City, in the heart of the tech district of Manchester which is home to a number of brilliant technology companies.

Me and my co-founder Nicola (Weedall) have had first-hand experience of the transformative impact that managing cash flow can have. We knew that with the right technology, and with transparency and simplicity at the heart of our proposition, Hydr could help many small businesses by optimising their cash flow.

We feel strongly that the success of a business shouldn’t be about its ability to wait for payment – and with nearly two thirds of all SMEs experiencing either an increase in late payments or payments frozen completely* as a result of the pandemic, we believe our service is more relevant than ever.

How does it work?

At Hydr, we go further than market norms. We pay 100% of the value of your invoice (rather than 70% or 80%) reducing payment terms from up to 90 days to 24 hours. Instead of a complex menu of subscription fees, listing fees and the cost of financing each invoice, we charge a single fixed, transparent fee for each invoice we fund.

The fixed fee we quote is always the fee you pay. It’s inclusive of credit insurance and doesn’t change, even if your customer is a little behind in paying their invoice. Onboarding is fully digital, giving funding decisions in real time.  Furthermore, our platform integrates seamlessly with Xero’s cloud accounting software making raising and reconciling invoices effortless.

We work with small businesses registered in England in Wales that sell products or services to other businesses. We build strong, professional relationships with their customers, freeing business owners to spend their valuable time on running their businesses, rather than worrying about long payment terms, or chasing late payments.

What is your background and what does your role in the company consist of?

My career is rather mixed! I left school at 16 to study the piano and conducting, ending up as Artists’ Manager of Scottish Opera. I then moved to London to become a headhunter working with private equity and venture capital funds for over 17 years, including founding my own firm, Hatton Grange, before it was acquired by Calibre One in 2015 where I became a Managing Partner. Along the way I became a pretty active angel investor.

As a small business founder, manager and technology investor, I’ve first-hand experience of scaling companies while keeping a very close eye on cash flow. Together with Nicola, who has a career in lending and invoice finance, we knew that with the right product, a cloud-based digital experience and transparency at the heart of our proposition, invoice finance was ripe for disruption. We firmly believe that we can help many small businesses by interacting with them in a way that is current and relevant.

What sets you apart from your competition?

We’re one of the only invoice finance companies to fund 100% of the value of your invoice for a competitively priced, fixed fee. We charge no subscription or listing fees and our price doesn’t change even if your customer is a little behind in paying the invoice. The fixed fee we quote is always the fee you pay and also includes credit insurance.

Our proprietary digital platform is unique and best-in-class – demonstrated by our listing and endorsement on the Xero Marketplace. Our product is married with a human, relationship-based service leveraging our team’s expertise.

When you sign up with Hydr, we become an extension of your finance team. Our promise is to invest time and energy in building positive and professional relationships with your customers, freeing you up to focus on managing and building your business with certainty around your cash flow.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Since we were founded in the middle of the pandemic and spent the first 8 months developing the product, we have not been adversely affected.  In fact, it was actually a good time to take a step back, scope and then build a great product.

Coming out of the pandemic we see that many small businesses who have great customers will be challenged as they ramp up activity while Government support tapers off.  This is where we can add real value by enabling them to have their invoices paid within 24 hours, rather than weeks or months later.

Optimising your cash flow is critical for any business, be it just starting out, going through growth or managing tough challenges like the pandemic. We sincerely hope that as companies come out of what has been a remarkably tough time, the service we offer will be a significant support to many.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

We believe our market is set to grow but we need to work hard to change some people’s perception of invoice finance. Many think of it as something that is rather opaque, hard to apply for, hard to cost and akin to admitting defeat to their customers and competitors. We have built a proposition that is transparent, very easy to apply for and we are working hard to change these perceptions – invoice finance is a really useful tool for ambitious companies that want to fuel growth or great business that want to optimise their cash flow.

When you look closely at the cost of our proposition versus asset finance, taking out a mortgage, an overdraft or another credit card, we are convinced that we will be a cheaper option. Not only that, but we are saving valuable time by taking on the responsibility for collections.

What’s the hardest thing about running your business?

Winning customers. It’s that simple. Once we have on boarded a customer, they love the product and become pretty loyal – Nicola and I are spending a lot of energy right now spreading the word that invoice finance is a positive thing.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

Yes – we are extremely proud to be supported by a small group of seasoned angel investors who have great expertise in finance, technology and scaling successful businesses.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

One of our challenges – but one we enjoy tackling head on – is changing perceptions of invoice finance.  Coming out of the pandemic, we observe that many business owners are extremely cautious about taking on new or different kinds of financing options. Our market research has shown that some business founders are concerned that their customers might view them differently if they decide to finance their invoices through a third party.

We want to shout from the rooftops that this is not the case! Invoice finance is not admitting defeat or a sign of weakness. We passionately believe that it’s a sign of ambition, confidence and strength. You want to spend your time on building your business and you need your hard earned cash in the bank as quickly as possible to fuel that growth. Invoice finance done well makes great business sense and can be transformational.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Looking for and finding a great business partner in Nicola. Founding and selling your own company as a sole founder is a great experience, but it was at times a pretty lonely one.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

Honestly, not a great deal. There are lots of little things that we would do differently as we iterate the product – but so far, touch wood, there is nothing I would change.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

Having our product rated on the Xero Marketplace so soon after we launched. They quite rightly put us through our paces and it’s terrific that our proposition has now been thoroughly tested and vetted by a really impressive software company. We understand that building trust is a critical part of our journey, and this was a massive step in that direction.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

Am I allowed to say world domination?! At the very least, we will have lots of customers whose business lives have been transformed by their cash flow being robust and predictable, and lots of leaders within those businesses whose time will have been saved because a trusted partner is managing their customers and making sure that invoices are paid on time.

We will continue to scale our business and will integrate with more cloud accounting software providers so that customers who are not with Xero can take advantage of our service. We have a significant team build to execute and a few other products in the pipeline – watch this space!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Digital invoice finance platform, Hydr

Temi Shogelola of Black Crowned Gin speaks about the challenges of running a business whilst also working a full-time job.

Tell us about your business?

My name is Temi Shogelola and I am the founder of Black Crowned Gin. My business is exploring how classic British beverages can be infused with the flavours, spices and botanical from African. I am starting with Gin.

What is the story behind your business?

I joined the Civil Service in 2015, right out of university. At the time I was the youngest and one of five women in a team of 100 plus people and was on a three-month contract. To extend my contract, I had to mingle with the senior managers and most of this took place in the pub after work. I did not feel comfortable drinking alcohol with colleagues so for my first few weeks I did not go. A colleague advised that if I wanted my contract extended, I needed to be more social, and recommended going to the pub, where I ordered a lemonade and pretended that it was a gin and tonic. I kept this act going for a month or so and managed to get my contract extended for another six months so to celebrate, I decided to try a real gin and tonic. It was love at first taste.

My business was founded during the pandemic but rather that starting I decided to wait it out until we knew more about life post Brexit and Covid-19. During this time, I shadowed several business owners from start-ups to established brands to develop my business acumen.

What sets you apart from your competition?

I am building a gin brand that has the African diaspora flavours at its centre. It is offering its consumers an opportunity to try new flavours and learn more about the diversity across Africa and the diaspora.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

Over the next few years, I feel like the gin trend will continue to grow because people are still discovering gin as a beverage. Gin entrepreneurs are still exploring and innovating different flavours.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

As a single founder, it is having to do it all whilst holding down a full-time job. There are days where I wish I had a co-founder to lean on.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

To start off my business, I successfully applied and received funding from the British Business Bank.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Aside from taking the leap to start this business, it’s trying to build a British supply-chain. I am finding out that a lot of businesses in the UK rely on supplies from Europe and with the delay at the boarder it is affecting my stock. So I am having to consider this when putting in my orders.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

It might sound cliché, but I wouldn’t change anything. Everything that’s happened so far has truly been a lesson I needed to learn. Starting a business is so far from what I know, and I have learnt so much so quickly. I have made mistakes and bounced back and I look forward to making mistakes, learning and growing.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

My proudest achievement so far would be getting funding for my business. Imposter syndrome really had me doubting whether I had an idea worth investing in. Over the few weeks it took me to get through the five or so stages of the application, getting through each stage was difficult but I did it. Getting that email that my application was successful made me realise that I had no reason to doubt my ability, my vision and my brand.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

Aside from the usual business growth in people, sales and distribution, I would like to set up a Womxn in Distillery Programme – A fully funded one year programme for women 18-21 to gain their foundations in distilling programming. Also, I’d like to have a three BA programme in Distilling and a one MA programme for women looking to become experts in distilling. I would like for my company to be a Top 5 Inclusive Employer and I would like for my gin to served onboard British Airways flights.

Read more:
Made in Britain: African-flavoured gin brand, Black Crowned Gin

William Durrant reveals the inspiration behind his bespoke furniture brand Herringbone Kitchens and explains why it’s important to find your own style.

Tell us about your business?

My Name is William Durrant and I’m the founder and director of Herringbone Kitchens, a family run, progressive and exciting bespoke kitchen and furniture design and manufacturer based in Canterbury, Kent.

I started the company in 2014 at the age of 28 with my wife Elly and we have grown it incredibly quickly in just seven years. We opened our workshop in Canterbury, Kent a few years ago, which has enabled us to make everything in Britain and work with skilled local workmen.

What was the inspiration behind your company?

I was a designer for large kitchen companies in the past and although I enjoyed it, I knew I wanted to offer something different, so Herringbone Kitchens was started. In an industry where the average company is passed down through generations or owned by those 40+, we would like to think that we have broken the mould and offer our clients and staff a fresh and different kind of experience.

What does your role in the company consist of?

On a day-to-day basis I manage the workshop to ensure our kitchens are perfect and go out on time. As it is my business, I of course have a hand involved in every aspect, so I also run our social channels, do pay roll, do some design work and ensure our company strategy and growth is on track.

What sets you apart from your competition?

We actually think that quite a few things set us apart from our peers. Not only is every single design bespoke and unique to our clients in terms of kitchen design, but we also have a strong belief that the key to a successful business, is a happy team. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but such is our industry unfortunately, however we offer our employees unique benefits such as a great parental policy and a flexible working policy, a first in the kitchen manufacturing industry.

I also started Herringbone with a strong ethos of employing local craftspeople, using sustainable materials and giving a portion back to charity. It’s so important to give back, so we plant a tree for every kitchen made, we sponsor Canterbury Pride and we raise money for local charity Catching Lives.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We are a visual business so our social channels are incredibly important to us. The same goes for showing up in the right publications so our customers can find us and know what we’re all about. We therefore value PR as much as our marketing and invest in both. However, word of mouth is excellent, a lot of our clients are friends or family members of former clients.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

We are busier than we have ever been. We are completely booked up for this year and for the start of next year. It’s been a hectic year to say the least however, we do not take it for granted and have made sure to do what we could do. During the first lockdown the team headed into the Canterbury workshop to make face shields for those essential workers lacking basic protective equipment in the local area. In just one day, the small team of volunteers went on to make 175 face shields that were distributed and shared between the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Canterbury Hospital and teams of NHS physios across Kent.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

I believe that the market is evolving to be more full home joinery projects, including wardrobes, side tables, boot rooms, dining tables etc. Clients like to be able to work with one company that offers it all, mainly because it’s easier than working with multiple suppliers on home projects but also because it makes the look of the interiors flow and match better.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Time – we have three young children, one of them being a newborn. It’s hard dealing with a growing business, a large young family, Elly doing her PHD and just the general madness that all this brings.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Craft out your niche and don’t try to appeal to everyone – it’s not fun and it doesn’t bring you much satisfaction or focus.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I would change that we didn’t trust our style when we first started Herringbone and tried to appeal to everyone (gloss and country style kitchens). We now have a unique style that’s our own and we are proud of that.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

The best thing is when we are able to give back. Sponsoring Canterbury Pride, making visors for the NHS, planting trees and volunteering at Catching Lives. Another proud moment is when employees are able to meet some of their life goals such as buying their first homes or finishing degrees. Our motto is like Henry Ford, a business that makes nothing but money is not a very good business and it’s a real privilege to be able to give back and be a part of people’s lives.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

In the next five years we hope to continue to perfect our craft, there is no need to be a large multinational company in order to do so, it’s not what we strive to be. We strive to continue to be good at what we do and to be able to enjoy designing and making kitchens with our clients and team members.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Furniture manufacturer, Herringbone Kitchens

Kath Clarke, founder and CEO of BlckBx, talks about her innovative new company that provides on-demand virtual assistance.

What is the background to your business?

The corporate world has been debating the problem that 40% of women leave the workforce when they have their first child and never return and 40% who do go back work part-time which means less women are entering the C-suite.

McKinsey stated that it’s not a glass ceiling that’s the problem, it’s the broken rung on the ladder. I want to fix that broken rung with BlckBx and actually help make sure that both men and women are climbing the same ladder.

I started the company two months before the pandemic. When the pandemic hit and everyone’s lives truly blurred right before our eyes on back to back Zoom calls, juggling work, kids, elderly parents and all those daily tasks – I knew the time was right, and that businesses would be looking at how to support their working families – which went beyond just new parental benefits and emergency childcare.

BlckBx provides on-demand virtual assistance to carry out the never-ending to-do list of tasks outside work. We save 30 hours a month of employees’ time and provide our services as an employee benefit as well as to private professional families. Our company is 100% virtual and our employees can work anywhere in the UK.

What inspired you to create your business?

It was from my own frustrations as a working mother and seeing the inequalities that my female peers were dealing with in the home and the workplace. Women have been getting the short straw and this needs to change. But change won’t happen unless we look at the problem from both sides of life; you can’t have equality in the workplace until you have equality in the home and that means women and men having the same amount of free time to focus on themselves, their careers and their wellbeing.

Right now, women are doing extra hours a week at home as well as family tasks – and we know in most homes even in dual working couples it’s the woman who runs the home. But we want to change that and enable men to take control too and be equally involved.

We’re doing that with BlckBx and we have an equal number of male to female customers. It’s working. Parents just need access to the right support and tools, and we are giving that control to both parents with BlckBx.

What is your point of difference?

We’ve created a new service and a new market. There aren’t any other companies doing what we are doing. Our focus is giving back time and we have an empathy for family and a family’s ever-changing needs. We also provide BlckBx as an employee benefit and to private families.

We found that needing more time isn’t limited to just those with children either. We’re also working with employees who are simply time poor and need that support which is more apparent than ever in professional services especially in this unstable Covid world.

Importantly, when an employee signs up to BlckBx we are their daily support to life. If they do start a family or someone, they care for gets sick then we are there to support then too.

How do you spread the word about your business?

I have a big network in the corporate world, many in professional services. I started there where, for example, management consultants and lawyers are working harder than ever before. They are either working or parenting and so it was a no brainer they would sign up to BlckBx as we save up to 30 hours a month in tasks that they would otherwise do themselves.

We do things three times faster, we do them better and we use our extensive network in home care, health care, child care and elder care.

Word of mouth and recommendation about how we are “life-changing” is the best way BlckBx is being promoted and you can’t get better than that!

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

The hardest thing must be the sheer number of hats you have to wear at the start and how much work there is to do. It’s hard but exciting too.

Being clear about what is priority in terms of tasks that day is what we do at BlckBx for our customers, so we’re naturally going to be good at that. For me, the wellbeing of my employees is what is most important. If they are happy then that’s going to come across to customers and that’s my number one priority.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

The biggest challenge has been the corporate decision-making life cycle and attached red tape. This is where smaller companies where the CEO can make a decision are going to have the upper hand over large enterprises. Smaller companies can decide to offer BlckBx to employees and take the talent away from large enterprises. For us it’s not a challenge, just a bottleneck.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

The best decision I’ve made is hiring my CTO and co-founder, Digby Knight. Sometimes you just get lucky and get it right, and you only know what someone is like once they’re on board. That’s definitely the case with Digby and he’s added so much to BlckBx far beyond his technical abilities.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

The one thing I’ve found hard is finding an accountant that really understands start-ups. We’re working with a great accountant, but they are mainstream. Entrepreneurs need to be as efficient and lean as possible and there are literally thousands of start-ups that would pay for that advice. If I was an accountant, I’d create a start-up arm and work for sweat equity. It could make the firm millions!

What’s next for your business?

My focus is on creating customer and employee satisfaction and everything else will grow organically around that. The nature of employee benefits means that it will grow globally anyway, just through customer demand. If one country has BlckBx then they’ll want to roll it out globally. Our long term focus is global but in the short term, we want BlckBx to be part of the fabric of every UK business.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Virtual assistance company, BlckBx

Dr Mira Massih, founder of baby product business Baby Boosa, shares the story of what inspired her to create her company.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

I founded Baby Boosa just over a year ago at the beginning of Lockdown after just after giving birth to my second baby.

The idea originally came from an accident that our son, 1 and ½ at the time, had with a plastic bib. We hadn’t realised it was slightly broken and he cut his finger on it and was bleeding badly, so that was a real turning point. I decided that was the end of plastic bibs for us as a family and so I began searching for alternatives and couldn’t find anything that I thought was practical enough and stylish, so I began thinking up ways to design a bib that would be safe, stylish, practical and sustainable. That’s when Baby Boosa was born. The name itself came from the fact that our son would kiss my belly when I was pregnant with my daughter, and the word for ‘kiss’ in Arabic is ‘Boosa’, so it all really just developed from there. The Arabic connection comes from the fact that my parents are Egyptian.

What is your point of difference?

We are redefining Baby and Toddler products through style, sustainability, community and thoughtful design. We are very much a trendy baby company, that prides itself on purposeful design.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Mainly on social media and word of mouth from happy customers. We have built a loyal cus-tomer base who recommend us to their friends and families.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Since we launched during lockdown, we have no other point of reference. The business has done well since its launch at the beginning of lockdown until now.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Juggling family and career and finding a happy balance.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

No, it has been completely bootstrapped and we have just organically reinvested everything left into the business after contributions to our community support budget, carbon offset and planting trees for every order.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Just finding the time to be a mum of two and run the business while managing my career as a dentist.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Launching the business during lockdown after giving birth to our second baby! Talk about multi-tasking!

What are your three golden rules for success?

Executing your idea.

Love what you do and be passionate about it.

Having the right support around you.

I couldn’t run my business without…?

Our children. They have truly been our inspiration over the past year.

What’s next for your business?

Lots more exciting things to come but we can’t give anything away just yet

Read more:
Made in Britain: Baby product brand, Baby Boosa

After years spent working for designer brands, Fabian Lintott and his wife, Maria, launched their own Italian leather company, Rufus Country. This is their story.

What does your business do?

Myself and my wife, Maria, own Rufus Country, a British luxury Italian leather company creating men’s and women’s luggage, bags and accessories.

All products from Rufus Country are designed in Britain and made to last from the finest Italian leather, sourced from Santa Croce. Our high-quality products are 100% vegetable tanned with no environmentally damaging chemicals or synthetic agents. We are really proud of our products and they are always made with focus on quality and useability.

What is the story behind your business?

Our story spans many decades now! I founded Rufus Country back in 2015 with my wife Maria. I met Maria in 1998 in the art room at school and went on to study at Central Saint Martin’s London together. We have forged a strong creative relationship ever since. Sharing a love for all things art, design, and product. We got married in 2005 and have two lively sons.

When we created Rufus Country, we had already spent the past ten years working for leading UK brands including Radley London and Wedgwood. We were driven by a passion for thoughtful design, using the highest quality materials, at affordable prices. We do this by sourcing the best quality leather from Italy and cutting out the middleman by selling direct. Our logo, the Furnarius Rufus bird, is a South American bird which builds its nest from clay instead of twigs. For us this epitomises what we stand for, we believe in doing things differently!

There is something in the material that is just so satisfying. Top class leathers have a natural warmth, a suppleness, and richness that no other material can achieve. They also wear incredibly well and biodegrade when finally reach end of life.

What sets you apart from your competition?

We source all our leathers for their quality. Our designs are all penned in our studio in Great Amwell. This allows us to have complete control over our products. We can put all the extras in that normally get cut when you worry about retailers’ margins. We have no retailers, so our customers get the best product possible, for the best possible price.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Unfortunately, it has been tricky. Lockdowns are not conducive to selling bags and wallets because people aren’t going out or commuting as much. All challenges are there to be overcome and I think it has made us look at a few new areas to improve this situation going forward. I am particularly looking forward to our new range of belts. Which will be made in house with UK made solid brass buckles.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

It is interesting. I think the traditional high street will continue to wither and internet sales will dominate. Purely because of people getting used to the convenience of the internet and their time poverty.

It will be interesting to see what happens to leather also. More people seem to be turning towards a less meat central diet which will also influence the quantity of leather available in the long run. Personally, I would pick a vegetable tanned leather bag over a plastic derivative because it’s currently a much better use of resources. Most plastic derived bags will end up in landfill and create pollution whereas leather will go on forever given the right care and attention – however, that’s for us to educate our customer on.

What is the hardest thing about running a business?

When you run your own business there is no down time, it is all consuming. You must worry about all aspects of the business, not just the bits you enjoy. Although if you have a passion for the business then it isn’t like work really but more like a part of your lifestyle.

What have been the biggest challenges you have faced?

We have had a few along the way. We had a flood in one of our storage units the night before a show which was a bit of a nightmare. Our vans clutch broke when delivering our stock up to a show in London. There are always different things that come along like that so it just becomes another challenge that you must overcome. I am lucky that my brain is fairly wired to discover solutions for problems which is a great asset when running your own enterprise.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Teaming up with my wife and going out on our own. It is challenging but incredibly rewarding and I would not change a thing.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

The first year of business we spread ourselves a little thin. We had a new baby, booked ourselves into all the shows, bought loads of stock, did a lot of freelance projects for other people, and generally went at 100mph and I think we ended up going around in circles. If I could go back and say to my past self, remember you are in this for the long game. Spend some time this year making long term plans too. Hindsight is always a beautiful thing though and sometimes you just learn by going for it.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

It’s always difficult to pick out single moments but on the day my second son Gabriel was born Rufus Country was featured in the Saturday Times magazine so that would probably be pinned as our proudest day. I always get a great feeling of pride when I spy one of our bags out in the wild.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Italian leather company, Rufus Country

Billy Boulos, co-founder of LifeJacket Skin Protection, talks to us about his company and why his sights are set on the bigger picture.

Tell us the story behind your business?

Three of us created LifeJacket after seeing a number of close, male friends experience different cancers at a young age. Jono, another LifeJacket co-founder, was one of them. During this time, we discovered that almost two men die of skin cancer for every one woman. This data point is rarely spoken about, and the World Health Organisation predicts male skin cancer incidence will double over the next 20 years. It’s easy to think you’re invincible in your 30s and 40s but so many young men around us were getting ill, we decided to try and do something about this highly preventable form of cancer.

Our founder-mission is to stop men getting skin cancer but as a brand, we want guys to take life outside and look after their skin while they do it. That’s a far more uplifting and positive manifestation of what we’re trying to achieve.

Our key message focuses on why everyday protection is key. UV is an invisible form of radiation emitted by the sun (and tanning beds). UV-A in particular reaches your skin every single day and in equal measure throughout the year. It even goes through glass. Winter or summer, cloudy or clear, UV causes a range of skin damage from wrinkles through to skin cancer. Putting that into numbers, UV is responsible for 80% of premature skin ageing and 90% of melanoma skin cancers.

What does your role in the company consist of?

In my 20s I worked for an investment bank in the mergers and acquisitions side of the business. I then joined a FTSE 250 alcoholics drinks company where I had several roles across finance, strategy, marketing and sales.

Jono and Rob, the two other co-founders, both worked in the world of cosmetic ingredients and formulation chemistry. At LifeJacket, we all wear multiple hats because we’re a small team, but I would say most of my efforts are focused on brand, marketing and commercial opportunities/partnerships.

What sets you apart from your competition?

To the best of our knowledge, there aren’t any other brands making skin protection products exclusively for men. In trying to get men to protect themselves all year-round, we know we need to remove all excuses men have and address each of their ‘pain points’. Our cosmetic formulations are lightweight, non-greasy, swipe easily through hair and don’t smell of coconuts. We offer UPF 50+ clothing for those who don’t like to constantly apply stuff onto their skin. We sell sachets for those who need portability and all our smaller tubes and Sun Stick have all been designed to be pocket friendly.

In addition, we take detection as seriously as protection and formed a partnership with SkinVision. We offer all our customers something no other brand does. Anybody who buys via our website gets free 7-day unlimited access to SkinVision, a phone app you use to take photos of moles and marks on your skin. The app uses artificial intelligence to compare skin spots and moles with millions of images of known skin cancers. The app then gives you an immediate risk score to help detect problem areas at an early stage and advises if you should seek professional help.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

On the one hand, people have been stuck at home and on their phones, so we’ve been able to capture more attention. On the other hand, skin protection is low on people’s list of priorities during a global pandemic, especially when they can’t travel, socialise, exercise or be outside more generally. We’ve kept plugging away and have managed to do well but physical sampling is impossible and several retail opportunities have been closed off.

How do you see your market evolving over the next few years?

Cosmetics ingredients are constantly being scrutinised for their impact on human safety and the environment. This is the regulatory environment we live in. From a consumer perspective, we would hope that male focused media start to talk to men about the damage UV causes daily (just as Vogue et al have been telling women for the past 20 years). This might make men’s SPF moisturisers more of a mainstay/routine product.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Building brand awareness from scratch and constant rejection.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Managing stock is pretty stressful. Having too much is a drain on cash but living with the ongoing risk of being out of stock and managing raw materials/manufacturing (both of which can be on 10-12 week lead times) has been really tough.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Working with the charity, Melanoma UK.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

As a direct-to-consumer business, our website is the engine room for everything we do. Each week, it needs to be changed, updated or maintained. I would probably have engineered it differently from the start but unfortunately, you only know what you need once you’re up and running.

What has been your proudest achievement so far?

The positive feedback we get every day on products we’ve made with our ‘own hands’. Each time a customer comes back to buy more, we’re absolutely delighted.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

Our mission is to stop men getting skin cancer. Almost two men die for every one woman. And there’s also a disparity in actual incidence levels between men and women. We’d love to see the graph lines coming down as our message reaches more people, and more men protect themselves daily. With any luck, that should also equate to growth for LifeJacket as a consequence.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Men skincare brand, LifeJacket Skin Protection

Elaine Ball talks to us about her business, Elaine Ball Ltd and Get Kids into Survey, and how she became the original ‘Geospatial’ marketer.

What is the background to your business?

Elaine Ball Ltd was founded in 2013 after MDL, the company where I was MD was sold. I took my savings, my decades of sales and marketing experience, and one amazing ex-colleague and established my own company. Elaine Ball Ltd is a dedicated business & marketing consultancy for the global Geospatial industry, and we deliver business, sales, and marketing consulting services through workshops, online coaching, training, and execution. My role is a bit of everything! I describe myself as one part marketer, one part business development, one part strategic thinking, and one part superhero.

Under the Elaine Ball Ltd umbrella, we established Get Kids into Survey in 2017.

Get Kids into Survey is a fun, action-packed global recruitment campaign to help save the future of surveying – a relatively unknown area, especially among children.

We aim to introduce and educate the younger generation on surveying and encourage them to consider it as a possible career path, creating a new generation of surveyors responsible for protecting the world. Many aren’t aware but surveying actually plays a huge part in this – from detecting bombs, studying planets, finding diamonds, monitoring wildlife, building bridges to measuring earthquakes and volcanoes, carrying out CSI forensics, to name but a few.

I co-founded Get Kids into Survey with my sister Elly and together we oversee everything that goes on within the business, ensuring we stay as hands-on as possible.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

My father, Steve Ball, is a hydrographer and mine surveyor so I’ve always been exposed to the world of survey and been taught from an early age just how important the work around it is. It was inevitable that I’d follow in my father’s footsteps and after I finished my business degree, I joined his company, MDL. During my time there I was able to grow the global workforce to 120 staff members, and increase the percentage of women from 25% to 50%.

I loved working at MDL so much that by 27 years old, I’d become MD, and when the company was sold in 2013, I chose to set up my own business. I invested £60,000 of my own savings into launching Elaine Ball Ltd, the go-to marketing consultancy for the global Geospatial Industry. I hired ex-MDL colleagues and haven’t looked back since. It was hugely rewarding to be able to establish Elaine Ball Ltd is a female-focused business, as the Geospatial industry is overwhelmingly male.

In 2017, I came up with the idea of creating a poster for the AGM of The UK Surveyors Association, designed to teach the surveyors children what their parents did for a living. The poster was incredibly popular with requests flooding in so we made more posters, added education resources and developed a comic strip – from there, Get Kids into Survey was born.

We’ve since launched The GeoSquad Comic; a 40-page digital download, a five-chapter comic book, complete with activity sheets, designed to appeal to children aged 8-12 in a fun and action-packed way. It’s a wonderfully illustrated introduction to the world of survey, created in collaboration with primary school teacher and children’s book author, Mat Sullivan, and artist Marek Jagucki.

What is your point of difference?

Apart from the fact that Elaine Ball Ltd was the first Geospatial Marketing Consultancy in the world?

The difference between Elaine Ball Ltd and other businesses is our goal. I want to raise the standards in the industry globally by supporting surveyors and geospatial professionals in marketing – bringing it into the 21st Century!

With regards to Get Kids into Survey, our mission is to make sure the Geospatial world is continued so that the planet is protected for years to come. It’s such an important issue and so it’s vital to us that we convey this to young children in a way they’ll understand, take the information we’ve given them and act. We want to increase the number of women in the industry, and populate it with the younger generation – currently, the average age is 55!

How do you spread the word about your business?

My entire background is marketing so I use all the tools available to me to promote both Elaine Ball Ltd and the industry as a whole. We are active across all social media platforms, and are now developing a presence within the media our target audience consumes.

We’re also fortunate enough to have our Get Kids into Survey ambassadors located worldwide, all of whom are working towards the same goal, so our mission and goal is talked about globally.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

The pandemic hasn’t stopped our campaign in the slightest. In fact, it’s only made us more determined to educate the next generation on how surveying helps protect the Earth and why that’s vital – particularly after seeing first hand, over the last 14 months, how the health of the planet is so delicate. As small children, we’re taught that the Earth will live for billions and billions of years but what we’re often not taught is that for that to happen, we need to play our part. We must do everything we can to protect it and the pandemic has made the issue even more urgent for us.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

I’m not sure that you can pick any one thing! When it is your own business the passion and effort never stops, there is no restriction. I suppose if I have to choose one that is relevant to me, it would be maintaining focus on the end-goal. As we are an international company, there are so many opportunities available to us, and so many things we could focus on. I have to take care not to get caught up in ‘shiny object syndrome’ or dilute our efforts by taking our eyes of the main target. As a CEO, this is why it’s vital I surround myself with a strong, supportive team – they help to keep my feet on the ground!

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

As a global business, fluctuating exchange rates have been a real head-scratcher. We have been able to offer very competitive rates abroad, but have lost out as all of our costs are in pounds. Focusing on the best way to resolve that for both our suppliers and our clients has taken up a lot of time recently, but we are there now!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Committing to our comic book. It has been an expensive endeavour but extremely rewarding and successful.

Any regrets?

No… but a business learning has definitely been to avoid giving in to shiny object syndrome! I am very much “ooh, a squirrel” and off I go chasing said squirrel. While this has brought us to where we are today, it’s not a long-term business strategy! So no regrets, but definite learnings.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

If we were to focus on just one thing – in this case, our primary offering of Geospatial marketing, delivered through our new Geospatial Marketing Academy. By launching side-projects like Get Kids into Survey, we make our business lives harder and more complicated! However, having your own business makes these things possible, and Get Kids into Survey will help to ensure the longevity of the industry.

What’s next for your business?

For Get Kids into Survey, we plan on continuing to educate the next generation for as long as we can, in bigger and better ways. We believe it’s our mission to ensure the industry doesn’t die out with the current generation of surveyors, so we’ll carry on creating more educational, but fun, resources that explain the fantastic world of survey for many years to come.

Currently, we have an online hub of free resources with lesson plans, quizzes and colouring sheets, our fabulous posters and an Education Fund to support ambassadors and school visits. We’re incredibly invested in the cause and consider it our mission to spread the word, in a way that’s most relatable to children.

We want to spend time collaborating with more partners and other educational outfits to help spread the word.

For Elaine Ball Ltd, the next big thing is the formal launch of our newest product, the Geospatial Marketing Academy. This is an online programme for survey companies and equipment manufacturers/resellers, helping them to get clear on their transformations and bring a client-driven marketing approach in house.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Geospatial marketing brand, Elaine Ball Ltd

Sam Whitten of Hemp Eyewear talks to Business Matters about his brand and some of the biggest challenges he has faced so far.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

For my final project at university, I was inspired by my desire to find long term sustainable solutions after learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Initially, I started by creating glasses frames from recycled plastics, but after more research I learnt of hemp. We have since been pioneering the use of organic hemp fibre in all of our products. The eyewear has been successful over the last few years and now we are able to launch sister product lines.

I founded Hemp Eyewear after graduation. My university pollution project truly inspired me to take action and thus I pursued the mission to bring hemp in various forms to the public, showcasing the super crop and raising awareness it’s many benefits. Recently I have been exploring and experimenting with new ways in which our products  can keep pushing boundaries in sustainable design and natural materials ie. Pineapple leather straps for watches and natural dyes within eyewear.

What is your point of difference?

One of the first businesses on the market to explore the use of hemp as a massively sustainable alternative and the world’s first hemp fibre eyewear product. We have recently launched the world’s first hemp watch, too.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We have a strong social media presence, with over 10k active Instagram followers and have regular press features in covers such as Business Insider, Designboom and various fashion magazines.

How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted business?

We have been lucky to have benefitted in many ways from the pandemic. We have taken the last year as an opportunity to reflect on the direction of the business and focus our efforts on product development. This has allowed us to finally put plans into motion, for example, the launch of a specialist design studio and fundraising for out new hemp watches.

Unfortunately, this has not entirely been true for our clients, many of whom have seen a significant decline in business. This has had a direct impact on our sales, however, we are beginning to see a boost as many areas of the world experience an easing of restrictions and increase in footfall for businesses.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

As mentioned above, there have been difficulties with cash flow and sales. This is always one of the hardest things for any business with a start-up structure and the stability of the business can be reliant upon the success of this. As an ‘ideas person’ the organisational aspect of business has been a skill I have had to develop.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

Yes, there has been some Government help through various schemes such as the By Design grant from Scottish Enterprise and I have won the YOUNG EDGE award in the Scottish business awards program named ‘Scottish Edge’.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Especially when starting out, there was noticeable resistance from the market. This was largely due to the perceptions surrounding hemp at the time as well as product quality at the beginning. But over the last few years, our product quality is fantastic and we pride ourselves on this. Also there has been a boom in interest in CBD oils and natural alternatives as people become increasingly health and environmentally conscious. Luckily the reception has significantly shifted to a more positive nature regarding hemp and there are booming businesses within the industry.

Any regrets?

If I was to name one, it would be the decision made at the beginning of this business when I chose to outsource the production of our eyewear frames with a company in the UK. It fell significantly short of expectations, making it a huge setback when first starting off, and I had to basically start again from scratch after spending almost all of the initial budget.

Bringing production of our eyewear frames in house was the best decision we made. Everything is done in our manufactory now and we have direct control over the quality control and design edits or prototyping take one day instead of three months.

What are your three golden rules for success?

Passion. Without passion, it’s impossible to have the level of commitment that is crucial to creating, managing and building a start-up. With all the obstacles faced when initially following my dream, I think that it’s my passion that helps me to persevere through the difficulties past and present. And having a team who shares my passion also boosts the overall energy here.

Unconventional. This is the second most important rule to me. I always ask myself “what’s the point of doing something that someone else is already doing” and I think that’s essential to the success of the business so far. We were the first people really utilising hemp in such a way and we still have so many more innovations to come. Being unique and different from the crowd fuels each step taken forward at this business.

Lastly, planning. I believe that making schedules and plans is part of an effective business model, whether this is in a simple to-do list or a detailed weekly planner, time management is key. I always tell my team that if they think a task will take an hour, then schedule it to take double that as unexpected things always get in the way. Also taking time off is crucial and planning for this is key to avoid burnout.

I couldn’t run my business without…?

My team. I spent the first five years of this business running it alone, handling all the manufacturing, social media, content creation, press and more. In hindsight, I can’t believe that I was able to do that for such a long time. Nowadays my team is truly helping me to develop this business and we’re now able to take substantial steps forward.

What’s next for your business?

As mentioned above, the last year has been an amazing opportunity for us to develop ideas that we have been sitting on for several years. We have been able to put into motion and raise funds for the world’s first hemp fibre watch and by working with Annas Anum, we are able to make it 100% vegan too. Additionally, we will soon be launching our ‘Hemp Design Studio’ which will be the next big step. This will be the design consultancy arm of the business where we will design and develop new hemp products for other companies.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Accessories brand, Hemp Eyewear

Tim Colledge, founder of coffee brand ü:who, talks to about how his business blends his love of great coffee and great music together.

Tell us about your business?

As a young child holidaying in Cornwall, I always loved the idea of having a coffee shop after wandering up from a day on the beach to buy an ice cream at the nearby shop overlooking the bay. My initial studying took me into healthcare, however the dream never left me.

Before the pandemic I had started to explore the options for how to run a coffee shop to start having a goal to work towards. However, once the pandemic hit this changed. During a few days of sitting in the garden during the spring lockdown of 2020, several ideas and conversations came into my mind as clear as day. The concept was born and research started on how to bring it all together. Within the month – the website and first product was being sold. As founder of ü:who, I have creatively brought about from concept, sourcing and securing the supply chain, design of infrastructure and being involved every step from bean to cup.

What is your point of difference?

We believe that doing the right thing shouldn’t be a USP, using eco-friendly packaging and paying a fair wage should just be the norm. We want to focus on allowing our community to enjoy coffee, music and the growing community of customers – knowing that our business is always looking to be better and fairer. We want to build a brand that is responsible towards its customers and the planet we inhabit.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We have predominantly spread by word of mouth. We have been fortunate to appear within the National Press within 6 months of trading. We are now putting together our social media and online marketing campaigns, with a brand-new website replacing the original website which I built myself. It feels a lot more grown up – but it needs to be done. As things open, we want to start getting out and about visiting some independent hospitality businesses and onboard more businesses as well as growing our direct consumers.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Like a lot of people, it has been up and down. Times where we have seen growth of 120% and then the following month crashing. Being a self-funding start-up during a pandemic in a competitive space has been quite the learning curve.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Getting in front of people. I know people will love our coffee. They will enjoy reading our newsletters and blogs and hopefully understand what we are trying to achieve as a business and community. However, it is a competitive space.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We are entirely self-funded by my healthcare work, which during the pandemic has often involved very long hours as I returned to provide support to the NHS from previously working in the private sector. We have received no financial support beyond the bounce back loan at this point.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Getting trusted contacts. The supply chain, marketing, accountants. The normal things. There has been a lot of learning and wrong decisions made. However, the team is building and now we are hoping to continue gaining momentum.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Taking the leap of faith. Sometimes you just have to take a chance.

Any regrets?

No. Always learning opportunities. I have definitely made mistakes, however, I have made decisions quickly to make sure they didn’t affect us any longer or expose us to unnecessary risk.

What are your three golden rules for success?

Know your limits.

Find good and knowledgeable people and surround yourself with them.

Listen to your customer.

What’s next for your business?

Growing our offering and customer base. There are lots of new coffees coming along the way in the future for special ‘guest stars’ as well as growing our merchandise offering too.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Music-based coffee brand, ü:who

Wilson Lou, founder of sports brand ZOUMA, talks us through the challenges he has faced in the earliest stages of his business.

What is the background to your business?

I graduated from the London School of Economics with a bachelors in Economics in 2014, and began my career in Investment Banking at Barclays Capital. After 4 years, I decided to pivot careers and moved out to Colorado, U.S., for 6 months where I attended a coding bootcamp. I returned to the UK and began working as a Software Engineer when a year later the seed for ZOUMA was planted.

As an avid runner since 2014, I’ve completed 6 marathons across the world. In 2019, I stood in the start pen of a London based Half Marathon when I realised I was the only one not wearing a plain colour. I’d scoured the internet before the race to find myself a striking running vest. Reflecting now, it took far longer than it should’ve to find one to add to my basket.

The current running apparel market was built on plain black, block or neon colours – but what about people like me who wanted to stand out from the crowd? I’ve always been inspired by how creative football kits are when it comes to colour, print and design. I decided that it was time to bring this to the running world. ZOUMA was born a month later in November 2019. Over the next 18 months, I worked tirelessly to bring ZOUMA to life whilst juggling my full-time job, friends, family, and – among other things – a global pandemic.

ZOUMA officially launched in April 2021 and I’m the jack of all trades behind the scenes. The photographer, web designer, customer service agent, content creator – you name it, it’s probably me… in the spare room!

What is your point of difference?

Different is exactly what ZOUMA stands for! There aren’t many wholly sustainable and ethical sportswear brands explicitly designed with runners in mind in the UK.

Of those, there are even fewer who are willing to think outside the box and go bold with their visuals, fit, and function.

ZOUMA’s products are designed for peak performance, incredible style, and maximum comfort. The combination of striking design, high-performance functionality, and reasonable price-point makes us a game-changer in the UK running scene.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Our current strategy predominantly pushes social media and saturation of the running community through club and crew outreach. Our number one marketing priority is building a community, and this funnels through to our second priority of sustainability education.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

It’s been challenging, but good!

Closed gyms and sports facilities during the pandemic led to a surge in runners which certainly increased the size of our target market. We planned to launch in September 2020 but due to a shortage of fabric as a result of the pandemic, this was delayed to April 2021. Luck sadly didn’t prevail, and half of the second batch of fabric was unusable so we were forced to produce the first batch in stages.

Despite these setbacks, we’ve seen fantastic demand since launch, and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Prioritisation! Working out what needs to be done, what job is most important, and then pivoting between jobs seamlessly. My day varies beyond belief; one minute I’m replying to a customer email and the next I’m reviewing designs with our factory.

You have to diversify your skillset, learn what to outsource, and have a huge amount of self-belief.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Our biggest challenges so far have been getting the word out and pricing our products correctly.

As a small, independent brand, convincing consumers to trust us over more established brands has been a huge hurdle. As a sustainable company, we’ve had to be upfront about the fact that this comes at a cost. Recycled fabrics are more expensive for us to work with, and therefore our price point is not at the lowest end of the market. We’ve focussed on quality, unique designs, and perfect cuts, to justify this – which so far seems to have paid off!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

We went through multiple rounds of sampling for our shorts with a manufacturer but just could not get the fit right. I had to make an extremely difficult decision – both timescale-wise and financially – to sample with a different manufacturer instead.

This turned out to be the best decision I could make as they managed to get the fit perfectly the first time. Not only did this save more sampling costs but it means we can bring the best running shorts to the market.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Use your success from all areas of our life to be great at what you do.

Society teaches us to only look at success from a professional career or financial point of view. However, we often forget that success comes in many forms: your friends, your family, your health, your side hustle, your hobbies – they can all help in more ways than you can imagine.

My friends and family have been with me throughout this entire journey and I couldn’t have done it without them. They’ve been a soundboard for bouncing ideas off, models for photoshoots, and reassured me when I doubted whether I was doing the right thing.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

More money! We have so many ideas and plans, but we’re heavily constrained financially and as a small start-up, we have to be careful where we allocate resources.

Changes in import duties due to Brexit have disrupted our cash flow and we also had to sink a substantial amount of capital in our initial stock.

What are your hopes for your business in the next five years?

To be the market leader for sustainable running kit in the UK and starting to make a dent internationally!

We want to build a strong community of runners, ambassadors, athletes, crews, clubs, and inspire the next generation to leave the planet a better place through the medium of running.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Sports clothing brand, ZOUMA

Pamela Cook talks to Business Matters about why her data-tech company, InfoShare, looks to identify and help vulnerable people through data.

What is the background to your business?

Infoshare was born in Kingston-Upon-Thames over 20 years ago. Its inception was a result of the growing role that data has in all our lives and the recognition of the real-world impact when that data is inaccurate. Due to advances in technology, things like AI and machine learning have moved out of science fiction and into the mainstream. However, any software that uses data is only as good as the data that goes in – ‘good enough’ data is no longer good enough when the insights gained are relied upon to make critical decisions. There was an opportunity to help organisations to trust in their data, so they could use it for good.

I took over as CEO of InfoShare in 2010, re-mortgaging my house to fund a major company restructure. It was a daunting but exciting challenge at the time, but it has been incredible to see the company grow and develop, whilst keeping our desire to be a force for good at the core of everything we do.

We developed our technology closely with police and public sector analysts to ensure we were authentic in our response to the market needs, and to ensure we were genuinely building technology that could make a difference. The ability to help organisations easily join up their data was a must, as it is proven to support better identification of vulnerable people.

What is your point of difference?

On the face of it, we’re just a data technology company creating accurate single views of people (and places, addresses, objects, etc). What sets us apart is that we have never strayed from our original goals – to identify and support the most vulnerable, to help organisations use their data for good, and to make a positive impact. If we have helped save one family, to us it’s been worth it. We are also speaking from experience; I personally have first-hand experience of the human cost of bad data preventing interventions for vulnerable children. In fact, this is what drove me to put my house up for collateral to take on the company as a single parent to two adopted children.

Of course, it also helps that our software is extremely powerful, linking people based on evidence (as opposed to probability that most industry competitors use). We may only be a SME, yet we have consistently proven to outperform some of our biggest competitors in head-to-heads, giving confidence that we can help organisations identify vulnerable people to offer early interventions and support. We also offer a complete evidence trail of all links and changes, to support organisations in their compliance.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Getting your voice heard in an industry of giants isn’t easy for an SME committed to its values over profit. However, we have been really successful through word of mouth, where our reputation for delivering speaks for itself and is gaining traction with the addition of some big names to our client base (e.g. Royal Mail, Pets at Home, the Met Police). We don’t have the vast marketing budgets that our competitors have, but we are lucky to have customers who quickly become supporters and believe in what we do – helping our customers achieve their own goals is the best marketing we can ask for. We let them speak for themselves and focus on sharing their success stories. However recently, we have been working more closely with our partners, to bring our innovative data quality and data management technology to new audiences.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Understandably, for most people, general data transformational projects had to take a bit of a back seat, whilst people shifted focus onto pandemic response. However, due to significant periods of isolation and lockdown, the need to be able to accurately identify vulnerable people became a front and centre issue for public and private sector organisations alike. Councils had to understand who within their area might need additional support; supermarkets had to understand who to prioritise for home deliveries; banks and financial services had to understand financial vulnerability in the face of wide swathes of the population on furlough or made redundant.

As a result, we poured our efforts into helping our customers to identify and understand their vulnerable customers and citizens, giving them full access to our entire suite of products for no extra cost, alongside free consultant support to help them use the technology to its full ability. We also offered our technology free of charge to all public sector bodies who needed to quickly identify vulnerability. 2020 wasn’t the year for eye-watering profits. It was the year we had to do whatever we could to minimise the impact of the pandemic and ensure people didn’t fall through the gaps. We had a flat year profit-wise, but I’m proud of what we achieved.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

In the early years, with a very tight cashflow, just surviving was my biggest challenge. It is something that I take personally, that the people who make up our Infoshare team are relying on me to keep the boat afloat. It was always at the back of my mind, that there were a team of people who needed me to make the right call. Fortunately, we are far from the nail-biting early years. However, it has simply moved to a different set of problems that will be familiar to most SMEs who go from small to medium – the ability to plan for growth pains in advance, and to know when to invest, what to invest in, and why.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We received a small amount of investment in the early days. But unfortunately, it was not enough, and our naivety shone through. The second time around, I was in control of the financial support – as I re-mortgaged my house to gain the capital. It certainly gave me an extra incentive to make it work!

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

On a personal level, it has been the balancing act of raising two children as a single parent whilst running a growing business. The biggest business challenge was just keeping the company alive in the early years with a challenging cashflow, whilst we focussed on developing our technology. We wanted to do it right, without cutting corners to build the best possible product to meet the needs of the market. But this required a steep learning curve in financial management, marketing, development processes and technology forecasting – as the CEO of a growing SME you definitely have to wear a lot of hats!

What are your three golden rules for success?

1. Surround yourself with capable, motivated and diverse people. And then allow them to shine. I like to hire people who know more than me and can bring fresh perspectives. Also, think outside the box in terms of job requirements and flexibility – if you let people work around their life, you may be getting access to skills and experience that other more rigid employers have missed out on.
2. Ensure you’re responding to a genuine market need when creating your products/solutions. If you do so, you’ll have less of a job to convince potential customers to choose you.
3. For start ups and young SMEs in particular, don’t expect success overnight. Manage resources shrewdly and commit to nurturing a capable, skilled team who will make your company great.

I couldn’t run my business without…?

A smile. It might sound twee; but running a business can knock you over a thousand times before you succeed. If you can’t dust yourself off and keep going, whilst maintaining your own happiness as well, it will be a steep learning curve.

What’s next for your business?

We are continuing to improve our technology and solutions, bolstering our flagship single view technology ClearCore with a new product (ConsentMaster) to support organisations in their GDPR compliance. We’ve recently added the ability to add in external data to single views to help clients develop a better understanding of their customers, for instance to make better vulnerability assessments or remove deceased people from their contact lists. We have also just finished testing for international markets and our new partner strategy is key to hopefully opening us up to a wider audience.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Data technology firm, InfoShare

Anshu Ahuja talks to Business Matters about her vegan takeaway firm, DabbaDrop, and her golden rules for success.

Tell us about your business?

The idea for DabbaDrop came about when I was working as a TV Producer. Life was busy and there were always lots of decisions to be made.

My husband and I would order a takeaway and it would usually take a good half an hour to decide what to eat. Trying to find a restaurant that has good vegan or vegetarian options was always harder. By the time the meal turned up it would be 10pm; too late to eat. The food itself was never as fresh or delicious as we imagined it would be. Plus, there were often the plastic containers which we’d feel so guilty about.

I’m a Mumbai-born, passionate home cook who in 2014 was selected as one of the finalists on the food incubator scheme, Kitchenette. The scheme allowed me to launch a pop-up Indian tapas concept, Pao Wow at Stevie Parle’s Dock Kitchen.

However, it was Summer 2018, when I started cooking from home as a trial for what would later become DabbaDrop. Renee was one of the first friends to sign up for the trial and loved it so much it was a natural progression that she came on board to help grow the concept.

What was the main inspiration behind your company?

I was truly inspired by the dabbawala set up back home in Mumbai. Unlike a takeaway where you have to choose from an endlessly long menu, these delivery-only kitchens created weekly changing set menus of home-style food, so all you did was unpack and eat. Hassle-free dinner just when you needed it most! And no guilt; you just left the stainless-steel tiffin out to be collected next time around.

My business partner Renee said: “We wanted to create a convenient, tasty takeaway option that didn’t come with a guilty conscience. Customers pay a one-off fee for the reusable dabba (tiffin) which is then theirs to keep. They choose a frequency (either weekly or fortnightly), pick their start date and they’re all set! Our delivery cyclists collect the customers’ empty dabbas when they deliver the full ones – and so the cycle (of reusability) continues.”

What is your point of difference?

DabbaDrop is proud to be London’s first plastic and emissions free takeaway service. Customers pre-order with the subscription model so we know exactly how much food to cook meaning there’s minimal food waste. Our ethos is ‘planet before profit’ and by offering an alternative takeaway, we hope to encourage customers to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Since we started in November 2018, our customers have helped us save over 100,000 plastic containers from being used by delivering in our reusable dabbas. We’ve also made over 25,000kms of emission-free deliveries.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We work closely with our fantastic marketing, social media and PR team to help communicate what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Positioning ourselves as a lifestyle brand means we also share tips on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle which you can see on our Instagram.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Business has boomed over the last year! In the first lockdown we had over 800 customers on the waiting list as people were so eager for freshly cooked food made by someone else. We’ve since expanded to more areas across London and business continues to grow.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

As two mothers, we set up DabbaDrop to work around our families. One of the reasons for setting up on our own was so we could manage our own schedules and not miss pick-ups, drop offs and other school activities. While overall this works for us, we’re still always juggling, working after the kids have gone to bed and on weekends to ensure everything gets done. But having a co-pilot means the other can always step in if the other has a poorly kid or no childcare so the business is not affected too much if the other person is not there.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We’re proud to say we haven’t received any investment for DabbaDrop. It started super small, providing meals for neighbours and then grew slowly over time which Renee and I completely self-funded.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

There are many things we are constantly trying to improve, and it’s been a gigantic learning curve for us both. Unlike Deliveroo and other delivery apps, we’re all about planning ahead. This idea took a while to grow on people, as of course so much of modern life is about being spontaneous and living in the moment.

But rather than change our model, we stuck at it, because we knew it was the right thing to do. When our customers plan ahead, it means we can buy the right quantities of ingredients and eliminate food waste in our kitchen.

We’d love to be feeding more people but we’ve learnt that changing people’s behaviour takes time. We’re starting to form a solid, loyal customer base who believe in our way of thinking, so it’s definitely been worth the wait and hopefully it won’t be long before people in other areas join our happy family of DabbaDroppers too.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

By far the best decision we made was moving from a vegetarian menu to completely plant based. It was a no-brainer. We wanted our business model to be fully sustainable and we believe a plant-based diet is the future; for our health, for our planet. So much of Indian food is naturally vegan anyway so it was an easy shift and our customers loved it. Our customers have great things to say about our menus and we pride ourselves on celebrating the goodness of vegetables. If we can entice more people to follow a plant-based diet, even if it’s just one day a week, then that’s a win for the people and the planet.

Do you have any regrets?

I wish I’d started sooner. I’d been sitting on the idea for a while, but the timing was never quite right. If I could do anything differently it would be having the confidence to start sooner.

What are your three golden rules for success?

Perseverance, creativity and delegation! Basically, never give up on your dreams. There will always be obstacles along the way but with a bit of creative thinking you can find ways around them. And delegation – it’s tempting as a business owner to hold on to everything and do it yourself, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Although it’s hard sometimes to let go, passing on tasks to experts; from accountants to designers; things happen faster when you enlist the help of others.

I couldn’t run my business without…?

My Co-Founder, friend and confidant, Renee Williams! Starting out as neighbours and then friends, was a great basis for a business relationship and I feel really lucky to have found someone whose skills compliment mine. Renee and I share everything, running the business as well as childcare responsibilities. We take it in turns to watch the kids so the other can work and this set up works well for the both of us.

What’s next for your business?

We’re in the process of setting up a zero-waste online shop. We already have a wonderful community of DabbaDroppers who are helping with our mission to reduce plastic waste, and we plan to offer them a thoughtfully selected range of products that can aid a plastic-free lifestyle.

There’s also a couple of exciting projects in the pipeline, including development of some of our pickles and chutneys. We’re slowly expanding our current delivery radius across London and eventually we’d like to see Dabbadrop in other major cities across the UK.

DIY recipe kits are also on the cards. It would be much simpler and cheaper for us to choose single-use packaging for such things but that’s not what we set out to do. This means the development takes a little longer but we’re nearly there so watch this space!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Vegan takeaway company, DabbaDrop

Matty Street talks to us about how his karting company, TeamKarting, has been his saviour and how they survived the pandemic.

What’s the background to your business?

I was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia and Asperger’s whilst at school. When I was 12, I discovered the world of motorsport through karting and found it really helped me to cope with the challenges of these conditions which made traditional schooling quite tough.

I studied motorsport engineering then went on to secure a degree, working at TeamKarting indoor racetrack in Rochdale throughout. I then raised investment to buy out the TeamKarting business in 2017 when I was 19. In 2019, I took the next step and launched an in-house kart race team that offers a full progression route from indoor karting to outdoor racing. Soon after, I set up the Cadet Kart Championship after being quite frustrated with the championships on offer.

Keeping TeamKarting alive during the coronavirus lockdown was unbelievably difficult, so I diversified with my business partner and launched Xtra Treats selling sweet treats and deserts.  At the end of 2020 I then invested in the importing and re-sale of Italian X-karts, offering the brand to the UK for the very first time, along with a linked karting team. Just last month I launched ‘Karting to Cars’, offering coaching and tuition for kart racers looking to move into cars.

How has your business developed?

Having worked at TeamKarting for some time, I was full of ideas and passion for expanding the business and making it more centred around our customers, so these were what spurred me on to doing everything I could to raise the money and backing I needed to buy it out.  The linked businesses all stem from my passion to create grassroots motorsport opportunities for the most people possible.  Motorsport is an incredible sport to be part of, but it’s often seen as ‘closed-door’ industry, where you need a lot of money and the right contacts to get involved. I want to change that, and we’re helping hundreds of young karters to discover their talent and passion every year.

What is your point of difference?

Everything I do is about the customer. Having raced since I was 12 years old, I know what works, what doesn’t work and what frustrates people in karting. My Asperger’s, which is a form of autism, means I get quite fixated and obsessive over things, so once I see a solution to a problem or a challenge, I don’t stop until I’ve implemented a change or made a difference.  That’s why TK-Xtra was launched, to help people take the first step from indoor to outdoor racing, and why I launched the Cadet Kart Championship (CKC). CKC is a championship that is all about the driver, based on feedback, and creating a series of events that people love being part of.

How do you spread the word about your business?

When I first bought out TeamKarting, I honestly thought I could do a lot of the day to day running of the business myself. I quickly realised that wasn’t the case, so I surrounded myself with trusted experts in the elements of running a business that I didn’t know much about myself. That includes marketing, so I have a great team that support our website, social media and marketing platforms. We welcome around 80,000 people a year to the kart track and CKC is almost fully subscribed this year, so we know it’s working. The most effective form of marketing is word of mouth however, and I’m very proud that we’re so trusted and respected in our field.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Unbelievably tough. We were of course impacted by the various lockdowns, being an indoor venue and the challenges were immense. We’d never had to deal with anything like this before of course, but quickly had to understand the process of furlough, planning and changing for re-openings, understanding the intricacies of health and safety requirements, it’s been the hardest time our business has ever gone through. On top of that, we were set to re-open with other indoor facilities in March and the government made a u-turn with only hours of notice, putting us back another two weeks, so we’ve had a great deal of turmoil.

The launch of Xtra Treats last year in the first prolonged lockdown gave us something to focus on and a way of securing some income, but it’s been hard to keep the business afloat.  I’m proud to say that our customers have been really supportive and extremely keen to get back on track.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Being someone that never sits still and is always looking to do more, I’m full of ideas, creativity and enthusiasm, which I often have to dampen! Everything can’t be implemented at once and it’s taken me time to accept that, making changes slowly and in the right way to suit the overall business strategy.

No one can prepare you for the all-consuming dedication that you need to run a successful business. I had no idea about the late nights and long hours, and for me – doing this at the age of 19 meant that I wasn’t going clubbing and on the ‘lads’ holidays’ that my friends were – I missed out on all of this. I had to be mature and responsible, I had 34 people on the payroll and people that depended on me.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Without a doubt it’s the challenges of the pandemic, but aside from that, the first few months of owning TeamKarting were awful. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to pay the staff and creditors. I got through it, but it was a wake up call in terms of listening to the experts around me. We fought so hard to get through the financial problems that had been left with the business and it meant our own ideas for development and expansion had to be put on hold. I had so many ambitious plans, but I constantly felt like I had one hand tied behind my back, being stopped from doing the things I knew could drive the business forward.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Trusting my gut, following my heart and buying the business that I loved. Someone once told me a phrase that has stuck with me over the years, which is ‘ready, fire, aim’. That’s me completely, I go for it, I chase the goals I’m looking for, then I work on the detail. I know this isn’t the perfect way of doing things, but it means I don’t overthink things, I trust my gut and I don’t hold myself back by seeking perfection.

What are your three golden rules for success?

Accept help; No one is an expert in anything.

Be the customer; You cannot make your business the best it can be if you only view it from a management perspective.

Aim high; No one ever thought that a 19-year-old with learning disabilities could raise investment to buy out a major business. Prove people wrong and go after your dreams.

I couldn’t run my business without…?

Being surrounded by brilliant people.

What’s next for your business?

The launch of Karting to Cars means we have long-term pathway in place focussed on grassroots motorsport. I want to welcome more and more people into the brilliant world of karting, with the infrastructure they need to develop as drivers without the bureaucracy and spiralling costs that are associated with motorsport.

Motorsport was my saviour as a kid and I know the impact it can have.  I love watching people discover it

Read more:
Made in Britain: Go-karting company, TeamKarting

George Bramble, founder of pet food brand Beco, explains why sustainability and the environment is at the very heart of his business.

Tell us about your business and the inspiration behind it?

I grew up surrounded by dogs and spent most of my childhood holidays outdoors in the Outer Hebrides. It was here that I really fell in love with the natural world and fostered an interest in learning more about the environment. At University, I studied Geography and Environmental Sciences and learned about the environmental pressures we’re facing both in terms of climate change and biodiversity.  It became clear to me that I wanted to set up my own business, building a brand responsibly and doing business in a different way by ensuring looking after the environment was at the heart of everything we did.  It was clear that the pet product manufacturers weren’t then considering sustainable practices and we decided we wanted Beco to be a one-stop-shop for the environmentally conscious pet owner.

In your opinion, why is it so important to produce eco-friendly pet products?

Climate change and its effects are putting humanity’s survival at risk, and the pet industry is a contributor to this bleak crisis we’ve got ourselves into

The good news though is it’s not too late to get our act together. Businesses everywhere need to re-evaluate their priorities and try to lower their environmental impact. Consumers and pet owners alike need to hold companies accountable. Thankfully, they are starting to do that.

How do you feel lockdown has impacted your business?

We have been lucky, and Beco has grown significantly over the past year. We put this down to two main factors: the huge boom in pet ownership over lockdown, combined with a massive shift to people caring more around the environment. People saw the positive effects of a massive reduction in road and air travel, they took time to look around and enjoy the nature around them, and people just largely stopped rushing about so much. All in all, what’s clear is that people care more now.

Why is sustainable sourcing so important to your business?

We believe it’s vital to source ingredients for Beco’s food from farms and fields close to home, which helps reduce our carbon emissions. We trust the farmers and can work with them to develop nutritious and delicious recipes for our pets.

But we don’t just stop at our ingredients – understanding where our materials come from is also hugely important to us. This incorporates everything from the packaging we use for our parcels, to the materials we make our products with. For example, our pet toys are made from recycled plastic (effectively from recycled drinks bottles). We learned that some suppliers would market plastic as “recycled” when it turns out it’s just off-cuts of virgin plastic from a factory, rather than plastic that is getting a second life after use. You need to dig deep!

What are the biggest environmental challenges facing companies like yours?

There is no silver bullet when it comes to the environment and especially when it comes to running a business and making products.  Just by having dogs and running a business, we have an environmental impact.

When we started Beco we are acutely aware that we need to constantly strive to reduce our impact as much as possible. Always finding better materials, more innovative designs, to cater to our dog’s needs whilst limiting our impact on the environment.

One of our major challenges was finding suppliers and manufacturers who wanted to work with us.  They didn’t want to deal with a company that was demanding high standards and asking probing questions about the provenance and quality of every single ingredient and material, and we had to work hard (literally going from door to door, often turning up unannounced), to prove we were a serious business, and that sustainable production was the future.

Why are these ethical issues so important to consumers nowadays as opposed to years or decades ago?

At Beco, we refer to it as “pre-Attenborough and post-Attenborough”. When Blue Planet first aired in 2017, Sir David did an incredible job highlighting the issues the planet faces in more of a compelling and easy to understand way than anyone had been able to do previously.  Following Blue Planet, we saw a considerable pick-up in demand for the things we make.

Over the past four or five years, people have been becoming increasingly more aware of environmental and ethical issues, but it’s the younger consumers that seem to make it central to their buying decisions. 50%+ of new pet owners over the past year have been under the age of 35, and this has really contributed to our growth of 40% this year.

Do you have any new product plans which are new or innovative?

We have lots in the pipeline, but we are particularly excited to say we have a range of treats launching very soon, that are made with the environment in mind.  The range contains both treats made from low levels of meat that has been ethically and locally sourced and ones that are totally plant-based. They will be found in compostable packaging and are delicious (my black Labrador, Tarka, has been thrilled with all the samples coming home with me each day!)

Read more:
Made in Britain: Sustainable pet foods brand, Beco

Jo Riley of CancerPal talks to us about her business and why she decided to make care boxes for those suffering with cancer.

Tell us about CancerPal?

My name is Jo Riley and I’m the founding Director of CancerPal. CancerPal is an online platform curating and retailing a range of non-medical products to bring relief from the symptoms and side effects of cancer. We sell a range of Care Boxes which contain products and treats which can help to ease some of the common side effects of the different cancer treatments and these make a really practical gift for loved ones who have cancer. We also have an online Marketplace where we sell specific products which may be needed by a patient going through treatment.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

CancerPal was founded from the personal experience of becoming a carer for my amazing Mum who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2015. When Mum was ill, I literally spent hundreds of hours googling and trying to find people who had been through the same experience. I soon realised that sadly lots of people experience cancer and that actually there’s a wealth of knowledge and experience out there and lots of ways I could help Mum, whether that was tips and ideas on how to ease the side effects of cancer treatment or simply advice and support on how to deal with the emotional side of things. I felt comforted knowing I was doing my best to care for and support Mum but even though the knowledge and experience is out there, it’s not always that easy to find.

When Mum died in January 2018, everything felt so meaningless, including my job in the corporate world, and I knew I wanted to do something different. With many years of sales and business experience under my belt, I decided to set up CancerPal. After losing Mum it gave me a sense of purpose to do something so worthwhile and important.

What I wanted was a one-stop shop that contained this information and good quality products all in one place, so that’s what I created. We are creating the world’s first Marketplace for cancer products. All the products featured in CancerPal have been recommended by the cancer community (patients, doctors, nurses, carers and charities) enabling users to review and buy products specifically for their symptoms – products which they might otherwise have never heard about. We are completely reinventing the shopping experience – our customers don’t purely come to our platform to purchase products – they come to us for advice and information.

The first few cancer Care Boxes that I created for CancerPal were based on the very boxes that I lovingly researched and prepared for Mum and I’ll never forget how much those little boxes meant to Mum.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We mainly rely on word of mouth and social media to spread the word about CancerPal. I originally thought that we might be able to leave cards and leaflets in the hospitals and cancer treatment centres. I spent so much time in the waiting room of our local hospital waiting for Mum and I can remember reading every single poster on the little notice board to pass the time. But Coronavirus has meant that family and friends are no longer able to accompany loved ones into appointments so we’ve had to be a bit more creative in our approach.

BBC Radio Kent invited me for an interview last year which was both exciting and nerve-wracking in equal measures. I’ve never done a live radio interview before and it turns out that I say ‘umm’ a lot! I also frequently record blog interviews for some of my long-term associates such as ‘See No Bounds’ which is a good way to keep in touch with the cancer community.

CancerPal has also been entered for some awards which helped to get our name out into the public domain. It was a real boost that we were finalists in the Wales Start-Up Awards in 2020 and the Welsh Women’s Award 2020. The icing on the cake however was when I was announced as the 2020 Winner of the ‘Entrepreneur for Good’ Award in Wales as part of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards!

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

The plate spinning! Because I wear so many ‘hats’ throughout the day, juggling everything can be challenging and I often find myself dropping plates! Trying to structure a ‘to do’ list each day isn’t always viable as there are so many things that can change. Most things are usually urgent and I’m always working in the evenings and on weekends to try and catch up. But I LOVE my job and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

I was very grateful to receive a start-up grant from Caerphilly Council and UK Steel Enterprise which enabled me to buy a new laptop which has been so helpful because I was using my daughter’s old laptop and it was really slow and didn’t like the number of product photos that I had. But apart from that, CancerPal is entirely self-funded. I invested a small amount into the initial stock for the Care Boxes and then re-invested the profit back into the business, buying more stock and expanding the product range and slowly but surely, that’s how we’ve grown.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Covid and Brexit have certainly made starting a new business incredibly challenging. Due to Covid some of the projects that were on the brink of coming to fruition disappeared overnight and with them went the revenue streams for the business.

We also have to be very careful when it comes to cancer patients and Covid, we need to avoid any kind of contact, printed material and stay away from cancer hospitals entirely so our marketing has had to switch to purely digital which doesn’t always reach all of the people we want to help.

There has also been the Global cardboard shortage which impacted on being able to obtain packaging materials and the issue of the Suez Canal being blocked which delayed shipment of some of our most popular products which we import from overseas.

All in all, I think it’s fair to say that I think we have had more than our share of challenges so far, but we’re still here to tell the tale!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far? Any regrets?

The best decision I’ve made was to believe in my vision of CancerPal – it would have been so easy for it to have just remained a dream.

I have invested so much time, effort, energy, money and passion into the company and I just want to make it as successful as possible. In turn, it’s a great feeling knowing that I’m helping as many people as possible to deal with the effects of cancer treatment. The company is so close to my heart due to my personal experience with Mum and therefore I can empathise with every single one of my customers and I’d like to think that I put this care and empathy into every Care Box and package I send.

No, I don’t have any regrets… yet! People told me that setting up a new business would be hard, but I really didn’t appreciate quite how difficult and time-consuming it would actually be. I’ve made loads of mistakes and there are certainly things I’d do differently with the benefit of hindsight, but no regrets. I love every minute of working in CancerPal but even more than that, I feel like I’m creating a legacy for my amazing Mum.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

Well, some more hours in the day would help! Because we’re a small business a lot of our systems and processes are manual, and as we grow these manual processes become more difficult to manage. At the moment, the one thing that would really help would be an automated stock management system to help monitor stock levels and ordering, but that’s a project for the future.

What’s next for your business?

In the immediate future, our aim is to grow and build greater awareness of what CancerPal does and what we can offer – we need people to know about us so that we can help friends, family, loved ones and cancer patients as much as possible.

We also want to continue expanding our product range. We currently provide products to help ease a range of side effects, but there are so many side effects that people may experience so there are lots more products that we want to research and introduce. At the moment we don’t have any resources specifically relating to children’s cancer and we are also looking to at palliative Care Boxes. Plenty to keep us busy…

Read more:
Made in Britain: Cancer care box company, CancerPal

Tom Saxon of Batch Coffee explains how a trip to Australia inspired his coffee subscription service and why the Covid-19 pandemic has helped his business.

Tell us about Batch Coffee?

Batch Coffee was founded in 2019 as a coffee blog that reviewed specialty coffee throughout the UK and Ireland. After a while Batch coffee evolved into a biweekly coffee subscription box that showcases two of the best coffees that have been reviewed by our coffee experts. We are purely an online company with our headquarters in South Cheshire.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

After starting a career as an accountant after finishing University I soon became bored of the strip lights and excessive screen time so I decided to seek a little inspiration travelling. I spent a year in Vietnam teaching English before heading to Australia. After a short spell working on farms, I fell in love with the coffee culture in Sydney and took a job as a barista. Here, I learned everything I needed to know about specialty coffee and found my passion. I left Australia after four years in Sydney and spent a year travelling around the coffee regions of Central and South America, visiting and working on coffee farms to understand the origins of coffee. Returning to the UK I jumped straight back into the coffee scene and began roasting coffee for a Manchester-based roastery, with a view to finding out what the UK is missing in their specialty coffee scene, which turned out to be Batch.

I wanted to create a specialty coffee brand, and after nearly purchasing a coffee roaster, I found that there was nobody reviewing or writing about the amazing coffees we have in the UK. We are still fairly new to the specialty coffee scene in the UK and our coffee culture is still finding its way compared to many other countries. I started buying as many coffees as I could and reviewing them hoping to create relationships with some of the UK’s best independent coffee roasters.

What is your point of difference?

We are a team of coffee professionals that taste and review the coffee before we include it in our coffee box. We showcase independent coffee roasters that not only produce some of the highest quality coffee in the world but also take the environmental and social issues in coffee seriously.

How do you spread the word about your business?

We use various methods to spread the word about Batch, from socials to PPC ads through to partnerships with coffee publications.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

As the pandemic started, home-brewing coffee exploded as coffee shops closed. We saw an increase in sales for the first few months. This has been the case throughout really, as waves of closures hit the country, we experienced more customers. I think in general people are starting to now appreciate home brewing and more people have invested in home espresso machines.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

To start with, when it was just me, it was hard to know whether I was doing the right thing and if all of my effort was going to go to waste. However, persistence is always the key to any problem and the wealth of knowledge I gained during the first year of business is invaluable.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

To offload much of the day-to-day running of the business like admin and fulfillment and also dispatching the coffee once every two weeks. It’s easy to get caught up in the operational side of the business when it’s young however the most important part is trying to grow the business and essentially marketing in whichever form that may be. I’m now able to spend around 80% of my time growing Batch.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Packaging has been a total nightmare throughout. There is an impossible balancing act of environmentally friendly packaging, style and cost. I feel like we have just nailed the packaging a year on, however, there are always tweaks to be made.

Would you do anything differently?

I think trying to do it all when I first started out was a little bit of a mistake. It not only meant that I was working every waking hour but the quality of work was probably not my best as it was spread too thin. If I was going to do it again, I would outsource a lot more and take on help sooner than I did.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

I think the human connection factor that has been absent during the pandemic will certainly make running the business easier going forward. Having worked in hospitality for many years, I have always loved creating connections and relationships with customers. I think being able to visit the amazing people behind the coffee roasters will enable us to tell their story even better.

What’s next for your business?

We are looking at a decaf option for our coffee box. We are also adding a quiz section to the signup process to enable us to send our customers specific coffees according to their taste. One size doesn’t fit all in specialty coffee.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Online coffee brand, Batch Coffee UK

Jess Salamanca talks to us about her business, Banana Scoops, a healthy-ice cream brand that was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic.

What is the background to your business?

I initially came up with the idea of Banana Scoops about 5 or 6 years ago when I discovered the trend for nice cream on Instagram. I made it myself and was enamoured by how delicious yet healthy it was, but I was surprised that there was no way to purchase it ready-made in the UK. I wanted to change that.

Therefore, 2 years ago I decided to take the plunge and quit my job so that I could focus on founding and building Banana Scoops – Both our company and our manufacturer are based in the UK. I haven’t looked back since!

I have over 7 years of experience helping small businesses to achieve their goals and turn their dreams into a profitable business. Therefore, it felt very natural for me to start my own. I am the solo-founder of Banana Scoops and wear many, many hats. I’m lucky enough to have a small team in charge of PR and marketing, but all of the other roles in the business are fulfilled by me.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

I had the idea years before launching the business! Growing up in Spain, a lovely hot country, ice cream was a big part of my diet! However I noticed that supermarkets were filled with ice creams full of sweeteners, sugars and fat so I wanted to create an alternative, healthy ice cream free from nasties, and one that was good for you.

What is your point of difference?

What sets our nice cream apart is that bananas are the base of our nice creams rather than dairy or dairy alternatives (i.e vegan options). It’s made from mostly fruit, with no refined sugar or additives. Our ice cream is so healthy that you can even have it for breakfast!

We’re the only nice cream company in the whole of Europe and we also produce the only ice cream product that hits all three key gaps in the ice cream industry, based on consumer demand – natural ingredients, healthy, dairy-free. There is quite literally no other company in Europe who is doing what we do – we are our sole competitor in this field.

How do you spread the word about your business?

As a small business with small budgets, we rely on digital marketing and word of mouth. We’re very lucky to have 5000 loyal customers on social media who are always tagging us on their delicious creations made using our ice cream. This word-of-mouth marketing is absolutely priceless and goes to show that having an amazing product and a loyal customer base can have a huge impact on any business.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic? 

We actually launched during the first Covid lockdown in the UK!

As every business in the country, Covid has had a big impact on us. We were meant to launch into Ocado in March 2019 but due to Covid our launch that was delayed by two months – a period in which we had no idea whether we would even launch at all as there was so much uncertainty.

It’s also had a huge impact on our marketing; our main campaign was in Summer 2020 where we were going to revamp a classic ice cream truck and convert it into a Banana Scoops truck and attend lots of events in the UK sampling and selling our ice cream. Of course, this couldn’t happen so we had to focus our efforts on digital marketing instead.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business? 

Being a solo founder is incredibly difficult. There’s no one to bounce ideas off and there’s a lot of pressure on one person. However, I’ve absolutely loved every minute of it and I wouldn’t change anything.

Have you received any financial support for your business? 

We are completely self-funded and haven’t had any external investment. We have been very lucky, however, to receive two grants in the past few months – one from our local council and one as a prize for the David Walsh scholarship for up-and-coming startups.

We’ve also been awarded two Kickstarters to join our team as part of the government’s Kickstart Scheme.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Having a very innovative product is definitely amazing and our biggest USP. However, we have faced logistical issues with our nice cream. Due to our product being frozen, it doesn’t make economic sense for our business to sell directly to customers which is challenging.

Nice cream has a very different texture to normal ice cream and also freezes differently, so we’re having to constantly work on improving and updating our recipe also.

As I am a solo-founder these issues can sometimes be overwhelming, as I am solely responsible for my brand, all decisions are on me.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Starting my business! It’s so hard to take the first step and doing it alone makes it all the more difficult. However, I am so glad I did, being able to do something I love for work and being my own boss is very rewarding.

Any regrets?

Not starting sooner! If only we had planned to launch a year earlier, before Covid, our lives would’ve been a lot easier and the potential impact of our business would’ve been a lot greater.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

Having a bigger team! I’m very lucky that we have a growing team including two amazing young talented Kickstarters who are helping them grow the business. However, having a board of advisors and a growing team would really help take the business forward so it’s not mostly run by one person.

What’s next for your business?

World domination and bananas everywhere – hopefully! We’re in the process of refining our recipes, launching new flavours and formats as well as looking into new distribution channels and markets. We want Banana Scoops to be stocked in all major UK supermarkets as well as internationally, and it’s something we’re working on.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Healthy ice cream brand, Banana Scoops

Lucy Do of The Dodo Micropub in Hanwell talks to us about the challenges of operating a food and beverage business throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

What is the background to your business?

I’m Lucy and I founded The Dodo Micropub in January 2017. Yes, I decided to open a pub in what’s traditionally the worst trading month for the hospitality sector! My business is in Hanwell, West London and prior to opening up my own micropub I spent over 14 years in marketing for publishing companies so completely unrelated to pubs, hospitality and craft beer!

I’m the sole Director and, being a micropub, it really is a small business so as well as still physically working shifts in the micropub I also wear all the business operation hats – business owner, financial controller, business development manager, HR, marketing, events coordinator, cleaner, cellar manager, chief beer taster. The list goes on!

Where did the idea for your business come from?

Micropubs have been around since 2005 but I visited my first ever micropub in 2014. I was your typical Londoner heading down to the Kent coast to escape the big smoke and, on a whim with little expectation, popped into The Just Reproach in Deal. That was my lightbulb moment. I fell in love with the micropub concept and its stripped back, friendly and unpretentious nature so started to wonder whether I could bring that to West London. I got made redundant in August 2015 and that was the real start of my micropub dream becoming a reality.

What is your point of difference?

We are a community focused, welcoming one room pub that promotes conversation as the main form of entertainment. There are no TVs and no music. Human connection is our love language and patrons of The Dodo Micropub are collectively and affectionately known as the Hanwell Massive!

We fiercely support independent producers and showcase a constantly rotating line up of craft beer from microbreweries. Being genuinely community orientated means we get to create lovely moments like patrons rallying together to throw a 70 year old his first ever birthday party. There have been some fun events like allotment swap shop days where locals get to trade excess allotment swag and Free Cheeseboard Sunday which happens once a month in collaboration with our local cheese deli.

How do you find working and operating in the food and beverage sector?

It is so exciting and so lovely! There’s a great sense of community in the wider industry so it’s a very wholesome environment. A far cry from tense and toxic corporate life! By and large people help and support each other, particularly in the craft beer and micropub world. It’s an incredibly innovative sector too as there is always something exciting launching, new to try, chef to follow – There’s so much to discover!

How do you spread the word about your business?

Mainly through social media and our own email data base. Instagram is my hero platform in terms of driving business and creating content. Once people come in and enjoy us enough to come back, it is traditional word of mouth!

How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted your business?

Hospitality was the second worst hit industry as a result of Covid after travel, so the better question is probably how hasn’t Covid-19 impacted my business! It was brutal financially (at worst 67% down when not forcibly closed completely). It was also brutal mentally as a solo business owner. Keeping up with the constant restrictions placed on hospitality was incredibly frustrating. Towards the end of 2020 there seemed to be a new ridiculous rule we had to adhere to every two weeks. Remember scotch egg gate and what exactly constitutes a substantial meal? All this reactive firefighting certainly became exhausting.

We did adapt incredibly well though. We set up a web shop for takeaway and delivery craft beer, launched our own gin, hosted online beer tastings for corporates, launched ‘enjoy at home’ food and delivered a 140-cover restaurant pop up in Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing so it wasn’t all bad.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Trying to wear all the various hats and spin all the plates. It can get a little overwhelming sometimes.

Have you received any financial support for your business?

I launched the business with every penny of my own savings alongside a start-up loan from Virgin Start Ups. During the pandemic, I’ve also received the financial support from the Government in the form of grants. I didn’t take on a bounce back loan as I didn’t personally want to take on more debt.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Putting boundaries in place so I’m no longer working every waking hour of every day. Respecting my rest days and ‘behind the scenes’ business strategy days has been a game changer. Plus, hiring and outsourcing my weak spots where possible. An excellent accountant and bookkeeper is a must for me as numbers are not my strong point.

Any regrets?

No regrets with setting up my own micropub. It’s such a fulfilling and enjoyable way to make a living but I now see business life would have been much easier if I’d discovered boundaries a lot sooner! I definitely experienced burn out in my first year through working too hard.

What’s next for your business?

First, the comeback post-Covid and getting ourselves firmly on the road to recovery, then ideally some more product launches and food and drink collaboration projects.

What are your top three golden rules for success?

• Know your core values as a business owner and stick to them.
• Believe in yourself.
• Don’t be a busy fool.

Read more:
Made in Britain – The Dodo Micropub

Last year, Camilla Cottle took the plunge and launched her jewellery brand, The Silver Stable. She talks to us about what inspired her business and some of the challenges she has faced so far.

What is your business all about?

I’m Camilla Cottle and I am the founder of sustainable handcrafted jewellery brand, The Silver Stable in Lancashire. I started making jewellery whilst on maternity leave and my love for silversmithing grew from there. I knew it was what I wanted to do full time. I always dreamt of having my own business and having a career in the food sector at a managerial level, I thought it would be something to do with that. However, once I started silversmithing I knew it was going to be my future.

I have been around horses all my life and after falling in love with silversmithing I knew I wanted to combine the two. I wanted to create pieces that had a strong equestrian heritage yet were still contemporary and could be worn by stylish women who don’t necessarily ride or own horses but are drawn to the allure of classic equestrian styling. You only have to look at a few of our heritage designer brands such as Hermes, Longines and Chanel to see their strong equestrian leaning in their design aesthetics. I set out to create beautiful jewellery which can be worn every day but can look equally stylish paired with evening attire.

What is your point of difference?

All our jewellery is made to last and is made from fully recycled solid sterling silver and solid 9ct gold rather than being gold plated or gold-filled! All our pieces pay homage to equestrian without being overtly ‘horsey’. For example, a woven rope orb takes centre stage on a necklace. Inspired by the lead ropes equestrians use every day, to anyone who doesn’t know horses, it’s a simply beautiful contemporary piece of jewellery! We pride ourselves on making everything in our Lancashire studio from fully sustainable materials.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Social media was our starting point and has introduced our brand and collection to a truly international audience. We now have a handful of influencers working with us and a PR agency on board.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Like most businesses it has been rocky at times, but I think our success has been our passion for creating something more than a throwaway piece. I call our jewellery ‘lockdown luxury’ and so many of our customers wanted to treat themselves to something special with self-care in mind, whilst others wanted to treat their loved ones to special gifts as they couldn’t see them in person. Our jewellery has also been very popular for birthday gifts as it comes in beautiful sustainable luxury gift packaging, making it ‘gift ready’ for the lucky recipient. Previously our calendar would have been filled with shows and events to sell our pieces and we hope to revisit this for 2022.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Trying to juggle life around the business. Being a mum of a young toddler, having my own horses that I compete and running The Silver Stable is always a balance that is hard to maintain but you just have to be super organised and I’m lucky to have great support from my husband, family and friends.

What has been the single biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

It was my own self-doubt at times at the beginning that was my biggest challenge. I knew that my jewellery was popular with friends, but there’s a big leap of faith between selling to friends and then for complete strangers to buy into the brand. Fortunately, the more popular the brand has become, the more confidence I have in my ability as a designer and the more pieces I have added to our collection.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

The best decision has actually been going for it and starting The Silver Stable last year. I was worried about taking the plunge, but it’s been the best thing I’ve done. No regrets!

What’s next for your business?

We are currently in the process of designing our new collection to be launched in the next couple of months and as I said before we would love to aim towards getting to some events and shows next year with our trade stand!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Handcrafted jewellery brand, ‘The Silver Stable’

Alex Ridd of CherryTop talks to us about his business and how it is looking to change the events industry for good.

What is the background to your business?

It’s an interesting one. Rewind the clock back to February 2020 and I was working in the school travel industry, of all places. It was the family business I was working for, and we created educational yet entertaining self-guided walks for school groups travelling abroad in major cities. As you can imagine, this came to an abrupt halt at the start of the pandemic, and we very quickly needed to turn our attention to generating another source of income! CherryTop Weddings was born, and the rest is history.

There are two elements to CherryTop Weddings’ experience: printed personalised Love Story booklets with activities and games for guests to enjoy, and an online interactive ‘Wedding Wall’, where guests can take part in activities, share their photographs, well wishes and watch a live stream. It taps into the trend towards hybrid weddings where couples celebrate with guests attending in-person and people watching via livestream too.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

The idea for CherryTop Weddings came from my brothers wedding, where we decided to create some games and activities for the wedding reception guests. It was just meant to be a little bit of fun on the day, but it ended up being absolutely loved, to the extent that two separate couples with upcoming weddings themselves asking if we could do the same for them. That was, I suppose, the ‘Eureka’ moment, but it wasn’t something we could act on at the time, with our other businesses busier than ever. It did mean though, when the school travel stopped, we knew it was the turn of CherryTop Weddings to have its time in the sun!

Has there been any skepticism towards to your business?

Touch wood, we’ve not really had any scepticism or naysayers at all! I think that’s down to a couple of reasons. First, the idea and product is one of those that when you say it, people just get, and can see the benefits it can bring. After all, we’ve all been to those weddings that are lacking a bit of wow-factor, or even worse, been sat awkwardly at a table where no one knows each other and an icebreaker is distinctly missing!

Secondly, we know what we are doing. Between the school travel business and our sister company, Treasure Trails (a family leisure business) we have entertained well over 3 million people. We know what people like, we know how to provide great experiences, and we know how to build businesses. With a great product and a great team, it’s practically a given that this business will fly and be looking after thousands upon thousands of weddings over these next two ‘boom years’ in the wedding industry.

Did you have any reservations about starting a business during Covid-19?

Not as such. There are always reservations when you start any business, but in this scenario, the Covid situation did not overly factor in. Aside from the need for the staff to adapt to home-working procedures, the business has not been affected. To a certain extent, the lack of weddings caused by Covid actually benefited us as it allowed us to focus all of our attention on making sure the product was absolutely 100% exceptional, before being in the hands of couples and guests.

In your opinion, have weddings changed for good following the pandemic? 

Yes, undoubtedly. Personally, I think the changes caused will make the industry stronger. Of course, restrictions, buying habits and customer perceptions have radically shifted over the last couple of years and there will be a follow-on to this even as normality resumes, but that’s why adaptability and evolution will be so important for the businesses in the industry. Those unable to adapt might well find themselves overtaken by the market, but for the ones that do, it’s only ever going to make the industry a bigger and stronger place to be.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Keeping track of which crocodile is closest to the boat! That’s a silly analogy, but it is one I use on a very regular basis. Every day there are new challenges, new opportunities and new ideas which come up. The hardest thing for me is keeping myself and the team focusing on the projects with the shortest deadlines or highest priorities, i.e the closest crocodiles to the boat!

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

Getting the tech project over the line! For our Booklet Building software, we needed a bespoke content management system, and as is often the case with tech projects, there were snags, delays and more back-and-forths via Zoom than I could possibly count. However, we got there in the end, and I couldn’t be happier with the end result!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

To not outsource work where possible. That sounds like a given, but it can be so easy to outsource internationally tech or design work for example, especially when it can often prove far cheaper to do so. From the outset though, we wanted full control, visibility and a close working relationship with any other businesses we have worked with, to ensure that our own quality requisites were being matched. The old adage that quality doesn’t cost, it pays, is very true. From the design side of things, we hired a full-time designer who has helped shape and grow the business whilst sharing our passion for attention to detail and brand consistency.

Any regrets?

There are always some regrets when you start up a business. None that are big enough or ugly enough to deserve a mention here though. Generally speaking, it’s been a pretty smooth ride so far.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

Would you judge me if I said not having a four-month-old teething baby? Because the sleep deprivation is not much fun. Not that I’d be without her, of course!

All jokes aside though, just to have more hours in the day. As cliché as it sounds, there is always more work to be done and more things appearing in the in-tray, so to be able to have a few more hours each day to keep the crocodiles away from the boat would be superb.

If you could go back to when you launched the business, would you do anything differently?

Not really. It’s been fun, challenging, and rewarding. Without the challenges, it wouldn’t have been so fun, so I wouldn’t change anything. Onwards and upwards!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Immersive wedding brand ‘CherryTop Weddings’

Michael Oszmann, Founder of online marketplace Buy Britain, discusses the idea behind his business and how plans to help other small businesses from within the UK.

In March 2020, Michael Oszmann lost his contract with Shell due to the pandemic and oil price crash. This left him with a decision to try and seek more work during the crisis, or to try something different. He decided to try and turn the negative situation into a positive and start something of his own.

The ensuing economic chaos, caused by the lockdowns, made him think that setting up an online marketplace with exclusively British-made products was an idea that could help to make a difference. Here, he tells us all about his business:

Tell us all about your business?

Buy Britain is a marketplace to discover goods made by local UK businesses. The company began in July 2020 and was officially launched in the November. Since then, we have had 140 local businesses register with us with sales growing every month.

Our current tagline is “The Home of British Made Products.” Our mission is to support local businesses, jobs and skills by growing their online sales in the UK and worldwide.

I’m the Founder and CEO of the company, but as a start-up that means doing a bit of everything and getting your hands dirty. I’m lucky to have an excellent small team who support the business, particularly on the technology and marketing.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

The genesis of the idea to support local business was growing up seeing my grandfather’s 100+ year old oak furniture business. They make an extremely high-quality product with very skilled craftspeople, all employed locally. However, they have struggled to adapt to the digital and e-commerce world we now live in. It’s already a barrier for them to set up an e-commerce website, it’s then a whole other thing for them to market it well online.

I’ve also spent some time working abroad in Asia and seen the high regard with which other markets view products ‘made in Britain’ / ‘Brand Britain’ so I felt that longer-term I might be able to create something which starts as ‘local people supporting local businesses’ and evolves into ‘Britain’s shop window to the World’

The idea then grew and evolved last year as I realised several trends, such as Covid driving online sales and the desire to shop more locally, were converging to make it the right time for this.

In your opinion, what makes British products so special?

For me, variety is the spice of life. Many people say “nothing is made in Britain anymore” and that couldn’t be further from the truth. We have everything from brands with great heritage to very modern, innovative businesses with stunning designs and engineering prowess. I think it’s important to support local businesses, wherever you live, to keep that variety and innovation alive. Otherwise, things risk becoming overly homogenised, mass-produced and a bit boring.

Did you have any reservations about starting a business during a pandemic?

Clearly it’s a massive risk to start a business at any time, let alone in a pandemic. There’s an opportunity cost versus working in a corporate job and earning a solid income. I didn’t really hesitate – I’m passionate about this business and had been building up to taking a leap for a while. The pandemic just gave me an extra push to take the leap earlier than planned as I lost the consulting contract I was on at a major FTSE company.

How have you found life in the food and beverage industry?

As a bit of a foody, I love it. We have amazing products in this country and it’s great to be able to do my part to showcase them. We have amazing kinds of honey, gins, game meats, chocolates and more, on the site right now. There are more great products coming soon. Then there’s the Buy Britain Wine Club – it has been a real pleasure to start discovering some of the amazing hidden gem vineyards in the UK and the stunning – award-winning – wines they produce.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Tough one! I’ve been lucky to get great advice and learn from many top people. I’d say one key thing I learned in my consulting time (from the other strategists) is to understand your business model and ‘own the data’. That doesn’t mean drawing a line, and saying you’re going to make however many millions in 5 years’ time, but it means understanding what are the important levers that drive your business, setting goals around those and then focusing on them as you experiment.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

I’d say the biggest challenge right now is building our organic traffic. The major platforms like Google and Facebook constantly adapt their algorithms to make it trickier for businesses to get organic reach, forcing you to pay for ads. However, that’s not very sustainable for a small, self-funded start-up business when you’re bidding against very large players like Amazon. We will get there but it does take time, effort and persistence!

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

We made a conscious choice to try and be hands-on and personal in our approach to supporting the businesses that join our platform and engage with us. Everything from giving them ideas (from our data) through to helping them set up their products. It’s a lot of time and effort from us, but it sets us apart from other platforms. Our small business partners tell us that how much they value our support and approach, which they simply cannot get from the major platforms. We see it as an investment in the long-term success of the platform and the small businesses that are on it.

Do you have any regrets?

Not so far. There are lots of things that we try or spend some money on and sometimes they don’t work out or disappoint. But it’s about learning lessons from those very quickly rather than worrying about the sunk cost. That normally then steers us in the right direction. That’s the advantage we have of being small and nimble right now.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

I suppose everyone wants more time and more resources. If I had to say one specific thing it would be an easier way to consistently create great content marketing. It’s essential for us to grow our organic reach, but it is also a huge time/cost investment versus the other prioritise we have on our plate like developing and improving the tech platform and developing new business lines.

What’s next for your business?

We’re in discussions with some really interesting potential partners who could bring some really exciting new product lines and even new business models to the site. In the short term we’re looking to keep expanding the range we have available for consumers, whilst expanding our revenue streams. Once we have reached a sustainable level of scale domestically, we have bold ambitions for overseas expansion, helping our businesses to export, providing business support services and possibly expanding into B2B business models.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Online marketplace ‘Buy Britain’

Tim Boote of sports nutrition company, Protein Rebel, talks to us about his business and why he’s looking to challenge the big, whey-based protein brands

Tell us about yourself and your business…

I’m Tim Boote and I’m the co-founder of a Crewe-based sports nutrition brand Protein Rebel (together with my wife), which is focused on clean ingredients and sustainability. Our products provide alternatives to protein supplements that use lab-made and unsustainable ingredients, and bloat-inducing whey. What’s completely different is that in addition to plants, we use powdered crickets in our products.

We launched in August 2020 with three 100% natural protein powders aimed at endurance athletes (runners, cyclists etc) and active lifestylers. Our powders come in two flavours (dark chocolate and banana) and you can mix them with water, plant milk/milk to create a high protein shake. They can also be blended into smoothies and used in baking.

I have a background in interim marketing for food and drinks brands, and first conceived the idea of sustainable and 100% natural protein powders back in April 2019. It took 18 months from development until launch, which also included appearing on the BBC’s ‘The Customer is Always’ Right’ with a prototype of our plant and cricket-based powder, Reload.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

Ten years ago, I first ate insects while volunteering at a Zambian national park and found them delicious. I was quickly sold on the idea of eating insects but didn’t realise their nutritional properties until a few years’ later when I discovered that insects, and particularly crickets, are nutritionally excellent and highly sustainable. They contain twice the protein of beef, five times’ the iron of spinach and four times’ the antioxidant capacity of orange juice. They’re also packed full of fibre, vitamins and minerals and use far less resource than traditional animal and dairy proteins.

In fact, crickets and other insects have a very low impact on the planet as they need less of everything – land, water and feed, and produce only 1 gram of carbon for every kilo of farmed crickets. Cows on the other hand produce up to 3000 grams for every kilo of farmed beef. As I’m concerned about climate change and the impending food crisis, I came to see insects as a solution to this.

In conjunction with this, I was getting fitter with running and cycling and my wife, Liz, was looking to get healthier. We looked to protein powders to help with this. What we found was that most were full of ingredients we couldn’t pronounce, whey-based protein shakes didn’t agree with our stomach and the sports nutrition industry as a whole was far from sustainable, from the ingredients through to the packaging. We decided it was time to shake things up a bit!

What is the size and scale of your business?

We’re only 8 months’ old so are still a micro-business. I work full-time on Protein Rebel, Liz works on it part-time, and we also have an intern, Jade, who has just joined us. Her experience is in social media, SEO and copywriting. We use partners for whatever we haven’t got time to do ourselves.

The protein market is fiercely competitive – how have you found running a business in this industry?

It’s a very competitive industry but thankfully for us, there are a lot of businesses and products that are similar. Eighty per cent of the protein supplements market comprises whey-based products which are far from sustainable and can have unpleasant side effects. This means that we’ve managed to carve-out a niche for ourselves, and our products have already picked up industry awards, such as the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Award for most sustainable product (Reload) and Men’s Fitness Magazine’s Recommended Protein Powder (Recover).

The great thing about the protein market is that it’s still growing and it’s exciting to be part of an industry that is experiencing continued growth and innovation. What is challenging, however, is that some of the large whey-based protein brands have a huge influence and can be really competitive on price, making it harder for start-ups to compete.

What products/services do you offer?

We currently provide three types of all-natural protein powders:

Reload, containing plants and powdered crickets, is high protein with prebiotic fibre, vitamins, minerals and no added sugar. It’s great for after short exercise and strength training as it helps to rebuild muscle fibres to aid recovery. The use of powdered crickets makes Reload completely different to anything else on the market.

Recover is our vegan high protein and high carbohydrate protein powder, making it ideal for after endurance exercise as it helps to refuel glycogen stores as well as rebuild muscle fibres. Recover has no added sugar and the combination of plants makes it gentle on the stomach.

Replace is perfect for weight management and as a snack replacement by delivering time saving, healthy and filling nutrition. Vegan, high protein and high fibre with vitamins, minerals and no added sugar, it’s a great all-round protein powder for use anytime.

In your opinion, why is sustainability becoming increasingly important to consumers?

Climate change is no longer associated with ice caps melting. People can see the impacts of on the doorstep with more extreme weather and lost habitats. Combined with the growing coverage about carbon emissions and the impact of plastics, more than ever consumers are aware that their actions have an environmental impact and are looking to make more sustainable choices.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

The pandemic and lockdown have presented huge challenges. Launching a business during a pandemic while home schooling two children, chasing after a 1-year-old and Liz was still working for her PR clients was challenging to say the least. Most of the time since launching, sports events haven’t been happening and stores and gyms have been closed so that’s not been ideal.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Deciding to still launch Protein Rebel despite the pandemic. It would have been so easy to hold off, waiting for the perfect time. However, it’s only once you launch a business do you really start learning about your target market and their needs, so waiting can often do more harm than good.

Any regrets?

Plenty! Usually starting with “Why didn’t we think of this before?” but it’s been an incredible learning curve. We started out thinking that our target audience would be gym go-ers but we’ve learnt that it’s actually runners, cyclists and people who spend time outdoors. They have a greater connection with the environment and are often looking for clean ingredients. I wish we’d figured this out sooner!

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

More hours in the day and more money but isn’t that everyone’s wish?! We’re actively seeking investment and have some really innovative ideas of what we could do with the money.

What are your hopes for the business?

We want to become the leading sports nutrition company for those wanting clean and sustainable protein products. We’ve won a European grant to develop another cricket-based product and we have other flavours and products in the pipeline so it’s an exciting time!

Read more:
Made in Britain: Sports nutrition brand ‘Protein Rebel’

The Nest in Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock is home to quirky clothing, greeting cards and other designs.

Owner of The Nest, Katherine Caldwell, talks to us about what makes her products so unique and discusses all the challenges that come with running a small business

Tell us about The Nest?

I graduated from Liverpool John Moores University in Graphic Arts and have worked in the industry ever since as a self-employed illustrator. In 2018, the time was right for me to open my own shop after years of supplying other stores and running pop up shops, so The Nest Liverpool Limited was born.

I am very much a creative. I approach everything in a creative way, so I was always destined for a career in the creative industries. I always knew that I wanted to work for myself so I just focused on the most unique aspects of my own personal work and worked hard to carve out a niche for myself in that market. I started by creating a range of illustrated organic cotton children’s clothing that I sold at arts markets. Then it all grew from there after a reassuring nod from the public. Across all my ranges, whether it’s greetings cards, clothing or accessories, each item carries with it the promise of ethical and sustainable manufacturing – something that I have implemented from the start.

What makes your products so unique?

I’ve probably covered some of the most important aspects with regards to the values behind my own products. Of course, they are also so unique as I hand illustrate each design by hand in my own style that has developed over the past 15 years. It was during my time at university that the idea of creating your own distinct style was heavily encouraged and I’m glad to have developed that style early on.

How do you spread the word about your business?

Liverpool is a very supportive city with regards to independent businesses, so word of mouth is always one of our greatest methods of spreading the word. Our approach to business is one that welcomes the customer and listens to their input with care. This has encouraged high engagement on our Instagram account in particular and allows our valued visitors from abroad to stay in touch with everything new at The Nest whilst they are unable to travel.

How has business been during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Like all non-essential retail, we have had to close on three separate occasions, so we were left unable to really plan for the future.

Letting go of plans that we’d made for 2020 wasn’t easy but the reality of what was happening was very clear to me from the beginning. My priority became the health of my family and friends. Growing the business will be far more challenging than ever before but I know we have the right products and a very supportive customer base to see us through.

Now we are open once again and there appears to be a more robust roadmap out of the pandemic, I can feel the excitement coming back once again and I’ve been designing lots of exciting new products that I can’t wait to share with our customers. When we hit the second lockdown just before Christmas, we opened up a web shop for the first time and offered a local delivery service with festive hampers full of our signature products so that we could still reach our customers.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

Probably the discipline. I’m always at my best professionally when creating spontaneously and when inspiration strikes, so the day-to-day organisation doesn’t come easy to me!

Have you received any financial support for your business?

We’ve had some fantastic support from Liverpool City Council with the various grant schemes available to us. The whole process has been very thorough and greatly appreciated.

What’s the best decision you’ve made so far?

Get a great team of accountants!

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

The first thing off the top of my head at this very moment is absolutely for there to be a safe way for our visitors to come and see us again with ease, from both home and abroad. In other words, a global solution to managing or eradicating Covid. We are really missing our international visitors to the city as we are often their first port of call on arrival into Liverpool (Albert Dock is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site here at Liverpool’s waterfront). The day-to-day bustle of businesspeople popping in after a meeting or relatives returning home after living abroad for many years are the little interactions we miss.

What’s next for your business?

That’s a good question! We are always adapting and exploring what’s new out there so I suppose it will be more of that. We love seeing what our incredible local creatives come up with and we are usually pretty good at predicting a trend. We’ll be working more with those sorts of businesses to encourage the growth of the whole designer maker eco system.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Liverpool-based art gallery ‘The Nest’

When the Covid-19 pandemic left Simon Glenn and Chris Rabbitt wondering how they were going to meet new people for business, it was this exact dilemma which sparked the idea for their new venture.

The co-founders of social networking site, Meeow, talked to us about how their service revolutionises virtual networking and why they’re looking to keep company culture alive.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

The business was born out of the pandemic. The bottom fell out of our worlds when lockdown hit. How on earth were we going to meet people and generate new business?

Simon was an independent graphic designer, while I had been a sales and business consultant for many years. We both relied on networking to generate leads for our business.

Zoom and Teams are great video services. They work brilliantly as a place to meet people you already know. While they are great platforms, they do not provide an audience or a way to access people not already known to you.

We launched Meeow in May 2020 to offer both a great video meeting place with loads of functionality designed for networking and a ready-made audience for you to speak to.

It connects four random people for an hour of chat. The more you use Meeow, the more it understands you. A powerful language recognition platform learns your preferences and works to connect you to people with similar needs.

We call it the Power of Random. By keeping the meetings to four people, it creates an intimate meeting forum where you are not crowded out or ignored and can participate fully.

What feedback have you had to your site?

We have had some great feedback and a month after launch we already have over 600 subscribers.

The best validation was in the early days when we asked users to facilitate the sessions to make sure they ran smoothly. Almost all of them agreed to do it – for free. These early Meeowists are our greatest evangelists.

What is the best and worst thing about working in social media?

The best thing is that the possibilities are endless. If you’ve got the right talent around you, anything is possible. The speed and energy is addictive.

The worst is that we’re a pair of middle-aged men in an industry dominated by 20-somethings. I feel old almost every day!

How are you funding the business?

Meeow has just completed its first round of fundraising, generating £150,000 of pre-seed funding capital to complete the launch and marketing of the MVP. We have an EIS raise going live in May to provide runway for the building out of the business to support the growing community of Meeowists.

We are also taking a growing volume of subscription payments.

What is the best bit of advice you’ve been given so far?

The best bit of advice is the advice we weren’t given. If somebody had told us that two middle-aged, slightly overweight Yorkshiremen had no chance of designing and building out a tech platform, we would never have done it.

But nobody told us that, so we went ahead and did it!

Do you have plans for any other apps/social networking platforms?

We have a B2B product in development that aims to bring back the “watercooler moment”, facilitating non-functional conversation in a workplace populated by remote workers.

Company culture is taking a hammering right now and this helps to begin to drive that back into an organisation.

What are your biggest concerns?

Community is everything in Meeow. Without our Meeowists, we do not have a platform. Their support has been amazing up to now but we are acutely aware that we have to look after them to keep them engaged.

The never-ending cycle of fundraising is something very alien for two guys who have always tried to run businesses that self-funded.

At what point would you consider your business to be a success?

We already consider it a success. The fact that people are signing up and using the app is validation to us. However, we will only consider that we’ve achieved what we set out to do when anyone, any where in the world, can jump on Meeow and be in a meeting within 30 seconds. That’s “mission accomplished” for us.

Virtual networking is here to stay. It’s easier, greener and much more efficient from a time point of view. At the moment, everyone is swarming back to face-to-face as lockdown is eased because we’ve all missed it. However, it’s because networking from the comfort of your own home is so much more conducive to so many more people; introvert, extrovert or networking newbie, that we believe it is definitely here to stay.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Social networking site ‘Meeow’

Functional Gut Diagnostics is a Manchester-based health-firm which looks to provide a quick and accurate diagnosis for anyone suffering with gastrointestinal problems.

Simon Freedman, general manager of Functional Gut Diagnostics, talks to us about how the company has developed over the years.

What is the story behind the company?

As a Gastrointestinal (GI) Physiologist, a clinician who specialises in GI function, Dr Anthony Hobson felt that people suffering with GI problems were not getting an accurate or timely diagnosis for their symptoms and was determined to do something about it. He started ‘The Functional Gut Clinic’ in 2014 with the objective of helping people to take control of their gut health.

Our mission is to bring peace of mind to millions by providing fast, accurate diagnosis of GI problems. Working as a medical resource that complements the patient’s GP or consultant, we deliver unrivalled problem-solving at every stage of the gut and digestive system. We do this by combining the very latest diagnostic technology with a team of dedicated specialists in our gut clinic to offer a trusted, proven and reliable service that swiftly identifies the problem; then connects patients with precisely the right treatment to alleviate symptoms or put things right.

What is the size and scale of the company?

The company has about 20 employees spread over three sites; London, Manchester and our latest location in Cambridge. We also run a Functional Gut Clinic satellite clinic in Edinburgh as well as diagnostic tests under contract in half a dozen NHS hospitals across England.

What is your role within the company and what does it entail?

I am the general manager so part of my role is to make sure the company is running as smoothly as possible whilst also looking for new business opportunities. Perhaps most importantly, I make sure that Anthony has the time to pursue his clinical work and R&D projects which he is incredibly passionate about. At any time, we will have a number of R&D projects running, all of which are focused on developing better diagnostic tests for GI patients.

How does the business operate from day to day? 

We specialise in all aspects of GI testing so most of our business relies on referrals from doctors, dieticians and other healthcare professionals. We perform the test on the patient and send the report back to the referrer and the patient. Some of this work is private, payment is from insurance companies or the patients are paying themselves. We also do tests for the NHS under contract at a number of hospitals around the UK. We have one test, Methane CH4ECKTM, which we sell direct to the public. Our target audience is mainly doctors and other health professionals but we do have a social media presence as we want to create awareness amongst potential patients, indeed, many patients have specifically requested they are referred to us. In addition, we have a long-standing relationship to most of our referrers and that suggests they’re happy with the service we provide.

Why did that area of diagnostic testing need improvement?

GI problems are one of the most common reasons for people to visit their GP but it can be very difficult to get to the root of the problem without specialised tests and highly trained staff to interpret the results. Patients with GI problems are often passed around to different doctors but despite their best intentions and probably due to lack of time and resources, they struggle to get an accurate diagnosis and without that they cannot be treated effectively. Anthony realised this back in 2014 and it was the main impetus for him to start The Functional Gut Clinic.

How has your company improved the capability for gut testing over the years?

There are three key innovations we have introduced; Firstly, the idea of having a dedicated GI diagnostic clinic where almost all of the tests are conducted in-house was definitely something new and supports the idea that The Functional Gut Clinic is dedicated to helping people with GI problems find the best solution for them.

Secondly, the use of high-resolution manometry and impedance. Manometry measures the pressure in the gullet (oesophagus) and the high-resolution systems mean much more accurate diagnosis for patients with diseases like achalasia and reflux. Impedance measures the presence of liquid in the gullet and this has been very important in determining whether a patient has low acidic reflux. Whilst Functional Gut were not necessarily the first to use these systems, the expertise of our staff and the quality of our reporting has helped to make this the standard approach in the UK.

Thirdly, breath testing for GI conditions. Again, The Functional Gut Clinic was not the first to offer these tests, but we were the first to offer the tests for use at home with bespoke letter-box friendly packaging with a reply-paid envelope for maximum patient convenience and more recently, patient safety.

What are the biggest challenges for your company?

At the moment, the service we provide is in secondary or tertiary care, most referrals we get are from consultant physicians or surgeons. Ideally, we would like to transition some of that to primary care and get more referrals from GPs. This is a challenge because GPs are extremely busy and it can be difficult to get them to do something different.

How does the company interact with Government?

Our main interaction with the Government is with the NHS where we have contracts to provide diagnostic services. We have also been able to access to some grants to help fund some of our research and we made use of the Government furlough scheme during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

What’s the biggest goal for the company?

 Our most important goal is to help GI patients get an accurate diagnosis and therefore treatment and this will remain at the core of every decision we take in the future. In the long term we would like to get more primary care referrals to patients get access to our expertise earlier in their diagnostic journey.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Functional Gut Diagnostics

Having been made redundant during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mark Rodgers of Cheese on Towcest’ in Northamptonshire took the plunge and decided to launch his very own online cheesemonger business.

What’s the story behind your business?  

I’ve always been obsessed with cheese and have always wanted to be a cheesemonger – I just love cheese and everything about it! A few years ago I started making cheese for friends and family, experimenting with different types and processes. By researching different cheeses and how they were made I developed a deeper understanding of artisan cheeses and the stories behind them including the amazing people who make it.

It was during the first lockdown in 2020 and being on furlough that gave me the push I needed to realise a lifelong dream to become a cheesemonger. I became aware of how the pandemic was affecting the cheese industry with stories of farmers having to throw milk away and cheese spoiling in other dairies. I knew I had to do something so I set up Cheese on Towcest’ with the idea of bringing artisan cheese from across the UK to my local area in South Northamptonshire.

What products and services do you offer?

The main product, and where it all began, is the monthly cheese selection box. I research and choose four different cheeses from around the UK and Ireland each month along with locally made chutney and crackers. I started with delivering the boxes, which come with tasting notes, to people within a certain distance of Towcester and as demand grew and word got out, we began offering a national delivery service.

I also offer bespoke cheese packages for birthdays, weddings and other events as well as having a stall at several markets in the area.

Did you have any apprehension about starting a business during Covid-19?

Because there was so much uncertainty about everything during the pandemic, it didn’t feel like I was taking too much of a risk. It was a case of testing the water and at first, having a bit of fun with it – seeing people’s faces when I deliver them a box of delicious cheese made it all worthwhile!

How have you been spreading the word about your business? 

It has mainly been through word of mouth in the local area so far. It’s the name that seems to catch on with people at first, it makes them laugh! There’s a lot to be said too about the local business community; I have made so many friends with people who are equally as passionate about what they do. Social media has been a great way of getting the word out as well.

What support did you have when starting the business?  

Financially, as we started off small, it was minimal investment – it was more about the time taken to research and taste all the cheese (somebody had to do it!) It was a big help being on furlough from my job and took the pressure off somewhat. I have had a huge amount of support from friends and family, many of whom have played their part, whether it’s being taste testers, creating labels or helping with photography.

What’s the market like for your business? 

What I do is quite niche in the market because many of the other cheese sellers in the area are also producers and I buy from them to sell at the markets and in the monthly boxes. We help each other out. In terms of online cheesemongers, it is a fairly populated market, however what makes me unique is the personal touch in terms of hand-delivering in the area and I am also committed to shining a spotlight on the smaller, independent cheese makers.

What’s the most important decision you’ve made so far?

To invest in a new bespoke website which does everything I need it to including potential subscription services further down the line and delivery options. It’s very exciting seeing it being developed and I know will make a big difference for the customer experience.

What is one thing that would make running your business a lot easier?

Having somebody to do all the admin/accounting side of things! That would then give me more time with the cheese and customers.

Best and worst thing about running a business?

Best – seeing the joy (and surprise) on people’s faces when I turn up with a box of cheese in time for breakfast. There was a lady who ordered cheese for her daughter’s birthday and the morning I delivered it, her daughter had just given birth. Being part of those special moments is a privilege.

Worst – it’s 24/7; I’m constantly thinking about ideas and what to do next, it can be hard to switch off, especially when I dream about cheese too! 

Any regrets or something you wished you’d done differently?

No regrets at all, I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason and actually I have been fortunate enough to have been able to grasp an opportunity to do something that I love during such a difficult time.

What are your hopes for the business?

I hope it continues to grow and we are able to showcase even more cheese makers and the hard work that goes into what they do. I’d love to see the industry continue to rebound and there are so many opportunities to grow Cheese on Towcest’ and diversify the products and services further, perhaps with more events and bespoke packages. There is so much scope with cheese.

What’s one thing you wish you’d known before you started?

I wish I’d have known how much fun and an adventure it was going to be because I’d have done it sooner!

What are your three golden rules for success?

1. Honesty is the best policy.
2. Don’t rush into a decision before considering everything.
3. Do your research; know your market and your products (I mean, who doesn’t want to taste cheese?)

Read more:
Made in Britain – Cheese on Towcest’

After spotting a gap in the market while working in the wedding industry, Kimara Middleton of Hampshire Event Props made it her mission to make special occasions even more special.

What is your business all about? 

I am the director of Hampshire Event Props which provides decor for events including weddings, birthdays etc. These props extend to flower walls, light up numbers, neons and much, much more.

I started the business as I saw a gap in the market from working within the wedding industry. I work at a golf club that hosts weddings and I saw that many weddings were asking about if we had any props they could use, venues don’t tend to supply much as people often want different styles so I decided to take the opportunity!

What is your role in the company?

I am the director of the business and do the marketing, driving, setting up, accounts and lots of other bits in between. It is a full-time role as people message on social media around the clock, but I fit it in around my part-time job and four kids, but I have a lot of help from my mum as well. 

I have had a lot of support from my parents, who were able to help with a loan that was needed to purchase all of the props. It’s only last month that it’s been fully paid off and I couldn’t have done it without them.

What is the market like for your industry?

There are definitely others but we all offer different things, we work together if anything. For example, there is a lovely lady named Alex who owns the company Blow Up South – so whenever I need a balloon arch added to an order I’ll book her and vice versa. It’s great to work together rather than compete.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

My biggest achievement is my response from the couples. Getting a note to say how I helped to make their day special is always so rewarding. I also love seeing the pictures of people enjoying the props and getting the amazing feedback when I share the pics. 

How about the biggest challenge? 

The majority of my business comes from wedding bookings so obviously the last year throughout the pandemic has been really difficult. I am really looking forward to getting going again. We offered ‘lockdown birthday’ packages with light-up number hire, sweet carts and flower walls so that people could still celebrate in style from home. They were really successful. 

What advice would you give yourself if you were to start the business again?

Just go for it!! I was in two minds about whether to launch the business and if I was good enough and I’m so pleased I did. It has been amazing to grow with so much support from Hampshire and I would never have thought twice if I’d have known they would’ve loved it all. 

Where do you see the business in 12 months’ time?

I would love to continue to grow my social media presence and maybe hire one or two members of staff. I could really do with a marketing specialist and maybe a driver to help with deliveries. At the moment I just fit it in around work. Hopefully my business will continue to grow.

What’s been the best decision you’ve made so far? And the worst? 

The best decision has to be investing in light-up letters. They make an event so personalise and really have the wow-factor. My worst would probably be not thinking enough before buying things I probably don’t need. My 30 cupcake stand is included! It’s really heavy and needs hundreds of cupcakes to fill it so it’s not very practical. 

For anyone thinking of starting a business, what would you say to them?

Do lots of market research, check out any competitors and think about how you would be different. If it’s a local venture like mine, find someone from a different area that’s doing something similar and reach out to them with all your questions. 

What’s the best thing about running a business and what’s the worst?

The best thing has to be seeing the amazing set ups and how happy they make people. I’ve seen people break down in tears because they’ve loved the props in their homes. It’s such a special feeling. The worst would be getting messages on social media when I’ve just got to sleep. It’s definitely not a 9-5, switch off at the end of the day kind of job. But it’s 100% worth it.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Hampshire Event Props

From purchasing some of the remaining Land Rover Defenders off the production line in 2016, the business now turns over £10 million Twisted Automotive provides customised versions to UK and global fans of the vehicle.

Here, Charles Fawcett, the firm’s founder, tells Business Matters about his greatest achievements and just how he set up Twisted.

What does you company do? What products services does it provide?

Twisted Automotive is the definitive authority on Land Rover’s Defender and has one sole mission – to keep the spirit of the vehicle’s rich heritage alive. One mission is to ‘celebrate the history of Defender’.

The company provides expert advice and quality modification for customer’s Defender vehicles alongside building the ‘Twisted’. It’s an interpretation of how the vehicle should have been with no product being fitted that doesn’t serve a real purpose.

It offers exceptionally high engineering standards to create enhancements exclusive to Twisted. The firm’s engineers and designers know that modifying a Land Rover properly takes more than a set of alloys and privacy glass; each client and vehicle is different and to meet exacting standards, it’s a time-intensive process.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

The business itself was established in 2000, but my love affair with the Defender started at the tender age of 11. I joined my family’s business, which involved my father running a 4×4 off-road driving centre, in 1995.

In 2000, I set-up Twisted as a side operation, offering tuning and performance enhancements for the then-range of Land Rover 200/300tdi Defender, Discovery and Range Rover before focusing on growing the firm a year later.

When did you start up, and what support were you given?

Twisted was a hobby. It ran from half a desk in my office, where I also ran the family 4×4 training business and which dad still runs today. I guess, therefore, the support I was given was the freedom to grow Twisted while still being employed. It cost me dearly later on but in those early days, I guess I didn’t need to worry about paying my rent as my job did that.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

I can’t really say. Before any new event, it is the biggest challenge yet and when it’s successfully completed, it’s then smaller than the next! It’s how the brain works. I remember dreaming of Twisted turning over £1 million.

I remember finally paying for my first Defender and owning it outright (I still have it). I also remember buying our first ramp for the workshop and first compressor. These were all equally big at the time as when I managed to buy 239 new Defender from a factory that was closing, borrow the money to buy them, find a shed big enough to house them when the largest order I had ever bought before was three or four.

Just recently, I was sitting in the High Court in London and found myself wondering how I got there – a tiny business in North Yorkshire, opposing the claims of an industrial giant, that being Jaguar Land Rover, turning over £21 billion, backed by Tata, a true David and Goliath moment…. and we won!

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Staff. Building a team. We have some amazing people; we have to be realistic though. Thirsk in North Yorkshire is not exactly the place to find automotive people. Someone said, building your team will be your biggest challenge. It’s fair to say, we have the best team we have had. It’s not a business that can be served by anyone, you have to love it, live it and care for it. Our customers deserve that.

How would you say you differentiate yourself from the competition?

The company has worked tirelessly on product development and made them exclusive to Twisted. No change we make is detrimental in any way and often this has resulted in creations that people said weren’t possible. I believe Twisted offers a service like no other and absolutely isn’t your ‘typical workshop’.

What has been the best decision you have made to date?

To re-brand professionally. To focus on Defender and back myself when everyone else said don’t do it. It’s not always easy, there are haters, moaners, drainers and doubters, you meet them all every day. Backing yourself without being pig-headed is the challenge.

Where do you see the business in 12 months’ time?

Twelve months from now, the new Defender will be here. Brexit will be done, new plans will have been rolled out and the next new set will be in play. I have no plan other than to keep pushing, keep growing and keep strengthening the brand.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

I don’t think of myself as an ‘entrepreneur’ in a way. I think I am creative and had a mind that is never satisfied. With that I see opportunity, and with opportunity I look for business.

What do you find most satisfying about running a business?

Creating a product that people want, making something undesirable desirable. Creating a brand and legacy. It’s mentally rewarding.

Read more:
Made in Britain: Twisted Automotive

London Morgan Founder Nigel Smith tells us about why passion is a crucial ingredient within their company.

What does your company do? What products services does it provide?

London Morgan specialises in both sales and aftersales services for this iconic range of classically designed motor cars. Our ethos is all about recognising worth and respecting tradition rather than a the pure pursuit of progress and the new for news sake. We believe that tradition becomes tradition because it perpetuates something good.

At London Morgan we have a close relationship with our customers in the same way that our customers have a close relationship with their cars. We believe that owning a Morgan is about experience and not just a means of transport, a chance to write stories.

Each Morgan stands as a wonderful and illogical contradiction to the everyday cars on the streets today, offering a unique hand built characteristics that only be created from traditional coach building and fabrication in association with the latest automotive chassis and drivetrain technology.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

Everyone at London Morgan has been passionate about cars for ever. I had raced cars and built cars and when we realised that the oldest family owned automotive manufacturer in England (probably the world) didn’t have a presence in one of the greatest cities in the world, we had to do something about it. We contacted Morgan and suggested working with them to establishing a London home. The Morgan family were delighted and London Morgan was born.

When did you start up, and what support were you given?

We began trading in 2013 (104 years after Morgan was founded) in the heart of South Kensington and have been happily calling Astwood Mews our home ever since. It was literally a case of presenting an idea and the factory sending us the cars.

This said, understanding one of the most established of British brands was not as simple as we originally expected. Firstly there is the Morgan ethos. It is very British and very eccentric (like the customers) as you can imagine. It was important for us to become emotionally involved with the project as this is beyond pure commerce and a long way from the mass consumer automotive space.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

We began the business with a blank sheet of paper. There was no blueprint or network model for launching such a dealership as would be the case with other more mainstream automotive brands.

Therefore we had to think and understand that someone coming from the Congo, Russia, China or Paris to buy a Morgan is doing so for very personal reasons and there is not likely to be much overlap in those reasons. Interestingly this helped us to focus on just the cars and the Morgan story.

We are not a traditional motor operation, we have art exhibitions (that have nothing to do with cars) and afternoon tea and this is not only a pleasure but an achievement in its difference.

There is nothing more satisfying than when a customer from India, Russia, China, Morocco or the UAE walks in to the showroom and starts telling us stories about Morgan that we have never heard before. London Morgan remains in its beautiful Mews home and we add to our rich family of customers from all over the world. Its growth seems to come in the form of relationships and we expect this to continue.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

The first thing that we had to do was to understand the enigma that is Morgan. Where they came from in the Malvern Hills, where their designs had derived from, why they still made their cars in the same way that they did in the 1930’s and why nearly 90 years later this was still accepted and valued in an age of technology and robots.

Being an enigma we were challenged to define ourselves and Morgan partly by what we were not. This enabled us to distinguish ourselves referencing companies that were far better known than ourselves and explaining why we were different. Are we a luxury brand? No, Morgan is more important than that. Are we appealing to a mass audience? No, the factory only ever wants to make 1000 cars a year. This is easier than trying to state what we are as with all enigmas.

The last challenge was to understand how different people from different countries perceive Britain, British products and specifically a traditionally built British sportscar like Morgan. This is perhaps an easier thing to do objectively as we have seen in the case of Tata and Jaguar Landrover. Tata recognised worth in something that a British generation managed to overlook and even denigrate. To do this required an honest critique of the good the bad and the ugly……..which was a leveling experience for everyone.

How would you say you differentiate yourself from the competition?

In purely commercial terms sometimes a choice is made between reputation, volume and value. Making 1000 cars a year in the “coach built” manner that we do sets a fortunate limit on volume. This leaves us able to concentrate on reputation and value for both ourselves and the customer.

What has been the best decision you have made to-date?

To present Morgan boldly and unashamedly as a strong representative of British craftsmanship and engineering and present it confidently alongside the Ferraris, Mclarens, Bentleys and Porsches. Put one in any line up and see what happens……..

Where do you see the business in 12 months’ time?

We are excited about the next stages in Morgan’s development we have seen the Plus 6 unveiled at Geneva this year and we know that with Jon Wells as their Chief Designer the next stages will be as unique and bold as their history suggests.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

A successful entrepreneur needs to have enough of an imagination to see a clear picture of the future and not enough of an imagination to see how frustrating it can be to manifest that future. Ideas can be right but the old and the wise understand that the secret is knowing “when” they are right which is when patience becomes a virtue unless you are very fortunate. The last piece of advice that I would give is that your reputation is everything as Morgan would attest to 109 years after it was formed.

What do you find most satisfying about running a business?

Being part of 109 years of history, the customers who are extraordinary and being part of a product that has been made in a way that you can be proud of.

Read more:
Great British Brands: London Morgan

British brands aren’t afraid to be innovative. Throughout history, they have established themselves as industry leaders within a number of sectors internationally, from fashion to food and drink.

And in today’s crowded marketplace made up of established brands in traditional industries, it’s important to be disruptive and make your brand voice heard. Here, we’ll go through some of the brands doing just that, and shaking up industries that may have gone a bit stale.

Traditional fine wines reaching the masses online

Wine is one of the oldest industries in the world, dating back thousands of years, so the older vineyards that specialise in producing fine wines are well established. Wines are often seen as complex drinks, especially as there are hundreds of different varieties available, some of which are more suited to specific foods according to their acidity, body, and flavour notes.

It can be daunting choosing a bottle to serve for an occasion, especially if you’re looking to impress.

London-based app Corkscrew is solving this issue by essentially acting as your own personal sommelier, whether you’re shopping in a supermarket or dining in a restaurant. Pairing wine and food is considered a science, according to Corkscrew sommelier, Matt Day, which makes sense when there are so many factors that influence the taste.

The app makes this much easier by sorting through the different “DNA” that can make up any wine, to find the perfect complement to any dish. As a user, you can pick from a Corkscrew-endorsed selection of wines to suit your personal budget, revolutionising the way everyone dines out, or hosts dinner for guests.

The fine wine industry is even more traditional, and has long relied on professional sommeliers to study a bottle of wine to value it based on factors like the vintage, vineyard, grapes, and even the condition of the bottle.

However, fine wine experts The London Wine Cellar are bringing the industry into the public eye by making it easier to sell fine wine online. Whether you’re a collector, or you’ve simply stumbled across a dusty old bottle in your home, just complete a form and you can get a rough estimate to see how much your wine is worth. This allows you to easily and quickly list your bottle online if you’re looking to sell.

Sustainable food-sharing apps make grocery shopping easier

Food retail is one of the largest global industries. But with the rising costs of food, which are only set to increase further, the way we do our weekly shop needs to change. On top of this, recent studies have shown that the UK throws away the equivalent of £271.44 worth of edible food every year.

While there are a number of schemes available to help combat this waste, startup OLIO works to connect users with neighbours and local businesses, who have a surplus of food. From fresh bread at bakeries to groceries in someone’s household, any food that is edible and within its use-by date can be exchanged over the app, rather than be thrown away.

The business is driven by volunteers, who are all trained in food hygiene and have been vetted by OLIO, to collect unwanted items from businesses, who are charged a fee to list items on the app. However, it is free for consumers to search for food to collect, with the option to make a small charity donation.

This is helping to reduce the massive amounts of food wasted every year, while also enabling the average consumer to save money on grocery shopping, paving the way for a more sustainable way of shopping for groceries. What started as a small project with a handful of people in North London has now grown to more than 400,000 users across 32 countries.

Personalised banking marking the future of money

Perhaps one of the biggest issues with banks is how difficult it can be to keep on top of your finances. Whether applying for an overdraft, or wanting to instantly see your incomings and outgoings, many traditional banking apps aren’t up to speed and require a branch visit.

However, app-based banks like Monzo or Tandem, both located in London, offer users the flexibility that normal banks can’t through a much more personal approach. With a business plan geared towards the millennials who are struggling to save, thanks to overwhelming student debt and the rising cost of living, these apps aim to help with budgeting in a way that traditional banks do not.

Both Monzo and Tandem track your spending, letting you set weekly or monthly budgets for things like groceries, eating out, and entertainment, and sending you alerts to avoid overspending. Monzo even makes it easier to save money with “pots” and automated saving schemes, such as Coin Jar. This rounds up your transaction total to the nearest whole pound, adding the difference to your Coin Jar in the equivalent of “take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves”.

While Monzo works like a traditional debit card, Tandem offers credit cards to build up a credit history, getting users prepared to apply for loans in the future. The app also looks at your outgoings, keeping an eye on how much is paid on what bills, and tracks when and if your bills ever increase, letting you better manage your cash flow.

Regardless of the industry, technology is working to shape the future and shake up the way we currently do things. Whether this is how we do basic things like grocery shopping, manage necessities like banking, or even how we shop for specific, niche items like wine, British brands are developing new and innovative ways to make these processes easier.

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The British brands cutting through traditional industries

Manasamitra is a South Asian arts organisation delivering cultural experiences in traditional and innovative ways.

Established in 2005 and based in the heart of Yorkshire, the group – led by artist director and founder Supriya Nagarajan – immerses audiences in performances that are stimulated by ideas, forms and aesthetics from India located within a contemporary British context.

Here, Supriya tells Business Matters about her greatest achievements and just how she set-up Manasamitra – a group which has performed on domestic and global stages.

What does you company do? What products services does it provide?

I founded a group called Manasamitra – a South Asian arts organisation based in Dewsbury, Yorkshire. We provide a cross-disciplinary, cross-channel musical experience for audiences and create performances for domestic and international communities.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

It came from my passion for music and what I like to do best. I set-up Manasamitra and wanted to dedicate the time to creating new music and giving audiences something different to enjoy – something that they might not have heard before.

When did you start up, and what support were you given?

I started in 2005 and have been supported by various funders along the way including the Arts Council and Kirklees Council as well as trusts, foundations and Yorkshire-based venues and organisations such as York Minster. Yorkshire gave Manasamitra the real big break to work and curate compositions to showcase what we were all about. From there, it has given us an entry into the world of creativity.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

My original composition at ‘hcmf//’ (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival) and Manasamitra’s ‘Lullaby Sonic Cradle’ project – particularly performing the latter alongside the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Lullaby has been a heart-warming project and the performance in Iceland was the crowning achievement.

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Breaking through the proverbial glass ceiling of being one of the few female Asian composers. Being there, putting my stamp on things and making ground within this industry continues to be an on-going challenge – but one that I’m meeting head-on every single day.

How would you say you differentiate yourself from the competition?

Through my work. I let my work speak for itself. My approach, collaborations and out-the-box ideas, as well as the work, all define me and differentiate the group from any competition.

What has been the best decision you have made to date?

Pursuing music as a career, without a doubt. It’s freed my mind up and that’s the best thing that has ever happened to me as an individual.

Where do you see the business in 12 months’ time?

In a successful space with new national and international opportunities.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

Carefully walk the line between a personal and practical approach.

What do you find most satisfying about running a business?

I enjoy the autonomy of making decisions. I enjoy the capacity of being flexible or changing the direction or methodology at short notice. I also enjoy collaborating with people I want to and having the responsibility of knowing that the buck stops with me.

I know that if I have done something wrong, I know I could have done better, and if I’ve done something well, I’m aware of that too. So, it works both ways.

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Made in Britain: Manasamitra