From start-up to Europe’s largest online florist
More Founder Stories
FEBE CRIBS – Huel
Huel makes nutritionally complete food: drinks, bars, instant meals and protein products. Serial entrepreneur Julian Hearn and James Collier founded the brand in 2015, and chief executive James McMaster joined two years later. In 2018, the Hertfordshire firm raised £20m from investor Highland Europe to launch new products and drive international growth. Huel has sold […]
Five critical lessons for e-commerce entrepreneurs
Steve Adams co-founded Mattress Online from his spare bedroom in 2003. In 2022, the company bounced into the FEBE Growth 100 with sales of £33m. Read on to find out how Steve’s done it and what he’s learned along the way. Steve Adams felt lower than the price he’d got for selling his e-commerce agency. […]
I might be battling incurable cancer, but I’m living my best life
We were recently introduced, through one of our G100 members, to an incredibly kind, brave and courageous person called Laura Middleton-Hughes who is living with incurable breast cancer. Laura was first diagnosed in February 2014 at the age of 25 with stage 3 breast cancer after discovering a small lump in her left breast. Having […]
‘How we turned the challenge of COVID-19 into the opportunity of a lifetime’
The story you are about to read contains a particularly pure and intoxicating brand of entrepreneurial spirit. High-proof and triple-distilled, it warms the soul, inducing feelings of optimism and inspiration. If you were to ask – Siri, what is entrepreneurial spirit? – Apple’s virtual assistant could do worse than read you this…
HIGH FIVES, CHAMPAGNE AND A KILLER SERIES-A
James Jackson and Jack Allman co-founded Bumper in 2013. Today, backed by Porsche Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover and Silicon Valley’s finest, they are building something special… In 2021, Bumper co-founders James Jackson and Jack Allman closed their Series-A funding round. High fives and Champagne followed – and plenty of it. The duo and their team […]
The twins set to shake up the cosmetics industry
Beijing-born twins Jake Xu and Shane Carnell-Xu launched this men’s cosmetics brand in 2019 after raising funds from angel investors Sally Preston and Neil Mather of Kiddylicious, the children’s snack business. Bestsellers in Shakeup’s skincare and makeup range include moisturiser, under eye concealer and face masks. The brand is stocked by national and overseas retailers, such as Harvey Nichols, Superdrug and Australia’s Myer, and it recently launched its new Face 4ward range in China. The Xu brothers previously set up READY, a creative agency based in Bath.