Kubrick Group was launched to overcome the digital skills shortage by building a data, AI, and cloud technology workforce. It provides staff with training before deploying them as consultants. It has trained over 1,000 professionals and supports more than 100 clients, including BP, Morgan Stanley, and Jaguar Land Rover. The London-based company was co-founded in 2016 by managing partners Tim Smeaton and Simon Walker and is backed by private-equity firm Bowmark Capital, which invested an undisclosed sum last year. Sales have risen by more than 50% a year since 2018, reaching £29.2m in 2021.
‘Don’t overreact to curveballs. Focus is everything’
More Founder Stories
ON TRACK TO £45M TURNOVER AND “I STILL DON’T SEE MYSELF AS SUCCESSFUL”
When Wayne Spriggs’ company, Lusso, was chosen to kit out the bathroom of The Equinox Hotel’s penthouse suite on Manhattan’s West Side in 2019, he couldn’t help but smile. Flashing through his mind were vivid memories of the two-bedroom houses he used to fix up in his hometown of Middlesbrough. The Equinox was a world away. Yet without starting out on those humble houses in England’s Northeast, the glamorous New York hotel project would never have come about. Moreover, if Wayne hadn’t taken that first step, Lusso – on track to turn over £45m this year – would not exist.
Driven by a mission for pretty poops we’ve created a £13m turnover business
Husband and wife duo Aneisha Soobroyen and Jack Walker, set out to solve their pet’s ‘tummy troubles’ when they discovered probiotics. This put them on a journey to start Scrumbles from their London home, creating gut friendly food for cats and dogs. Founded in 2018 they later appeared on Dragons’ Den, where the founders rejected […]
How to launch a business during a crisis
Alexia Inge co-founded Cult Beauty with no funding, during a deep global recession. Today, they employ over 130 people and turn over £104m. With coronavirus creating such huge uncertainty, we thought we’d sit down with Alexia to hear more about how savvy entrepreneurs can find opportunities at the unlikeliest of times…
Having a family has shown me there’s more to life than business
London-based Wild manufactures and sells natural, refillable deodorant and soap on a subscription basis. Launched in 2019 by co-founders, chief executive Freddy Ward and chief marketing officer Charlie Bowes- Lyon, it aims to reduce plastic waste while creating products using natural ingredients. The company has secured a total of £7.6m in equity funding, including a […]
‘How we made tofu sexy’
Tofoo produces organic, gluten-, dairy- and yeast-free products from soybeans. Husband-and-wife team Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith have built the business to sales of £18.6m in 2021. The North Yorkshire firm says it is the fourth-largest brand in the chilled meat-free market, with more than one million households buying its products regularly. Its recent growth is partly due to winning listings in major retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
How I kept my business alive when demand evaporated
WeFlex provides car finance and rental to ride-hailing drivers, focusing on electric vehicles. Founder Nicko Williamson is a serial entrepreneur, who launched his first eco-friendly venture, ClimateCars, in 2007 aged 23 and sold it to Addison Lee in 2015 for an undisclosed sum. WeFlex has raised £2m of investment and £27.5m in debt to date. London-based WeFlex plans to have an all-electric fleet of 5,000 vehicles by 2025.