Business origin stories are often intriguing and inspiring, but that of free-range meat-box supplier field&flower is even better – it’s sublime. Because co-founders James Mansfield and James Flower launched their £13m food business in 2012 not with a glitzy website or fancy app, but with a single cow. The two James’s (we’ll stick to surnames from now on for clarity) met at agricultural college, but this wasn’t your typical farmer-farmer friendship. Mansfield is a South London lad who somehow ended up studying agriculture:

Sixty-five-year-old Mike Clare brims with boyish enthusiasm, even over Zoom. As he chats, it’s not hard to imagine him turning a £20,000 investment into £222m Dreams Beds, which is precisely what he did. And his energy is such that it makes you believe you could do something similar – even during a pandemic…

“If you’re waking up in the middle of the night because you’re scared, that’s powerful,” says Roger Wade. “As an entrepreneur, it’s that fear that keeps you alive, so embrace it.” Boxpark’s founder and CEO is no stranger to sweaty internal monologues in the early hours. He experienced plenty of night-time terrors while growing British […]

Care is not a traditional business value. Peruse the classics and you’ll see boldness, passion, honesty and perhaps integrity, but not the C-word.
Thankfully things are changing – as Bloom & Wild demonstrates. This flower retailer meets tech company is undoubtedly growing relentlessly. Yet its business values would disorient yesteryear’s ‘manly’ entrepreneurs. “We’re obsessed with care,” says founder Aron Gelbard. “It’s vital to me and it’s a key trait I look for when hiring.”

Passenger Clothing sells durable outdoor clothing and accessories directly to the consumer. Based in the New Forest, it prides itself on being a responsible brand rooted in nature, connection and wellbeing. The company promises to plant a tree for every order and uses lower footprint materials like recycled cotton, hemp, recycled plastic and organics. In addition, its headquarters is powered by UK-generated renewable electricity.

Charlie Bigham started cooking up his business at home. It all started on his kitchen table 25 years ago. Sitting at his kitchen table, he began to combine ingredients to create dishes that he hoped to sell to local food shops and delis. Today, he employs more than 500 people. We talk to Britain’s comfort-food king Charlie Bigham and extract nine lessons from his extraordinary entrepreneurial journey…