Husband and wife team Manav and Rimi Thapar started LoveRaw: a plant based chocolate brand with £600 and a food processor. Today, the confectionery is sold in 20 countries, and stockists include Asda, Coop and WH Smith. LoveRaw secured £2m of funding from investor Blue Horizon Ventures in 2020, after rejecting an offer in the BBC’s Dragons’ Den two years earlier. The family-run firm is based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, and products launched this year include vegan peanut butter cups in milk and white chocolate flavours.
How we blagged meetings with buyers to build our brand
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‘The reality of being a founder…you make it up as you go along!’
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.
How we secured a slam-dunk deal with the NBA
Two years ago, we wrote about James Macfarlane under the headline: ‘The quiet tech entrepreneur who’s building a half-billion-pound empire’. Hands up. We low-balled him. In April 2021, PM Connect signed a contract with the NBA. The agreement, means that fans in Europe and South Africa can now pay to watch the New York Knicks, LA Lakers et al via their mobile phone. Where the business could go from here is dizzying…
‘Starting our business nearly killed us…’
Born in 2016 with the posting of a simple question on Facebook by friends, Owen and Lee, ‘What can I get you?’ From this, GoGetters has now evolved into a food ordering & delivery platform dedicated to promoting local, independent business in communities outside of UK’s major cities, now extending to cover towns across Essex, […]
From Dragons’ Den to a £12m business
Startup Logistics provides services including shipping, bulk storage, and website support to e-commerce brands. The company was founded by Udhi Silva and Nick Coleman, who previously founded online healthcare supplier Medical Supermarket in 2011 and snack company Snaffling Pig in 2013. As a result of their experience building Snaffling Pig, they understood what consumer brands […]
‘As an entrepreneur my job is to be a hype-man and recruiter’
Founded in 2016 by then 23-year-old George Melhuish, this West Bromwich based company supports over 30,000 customers. Safe Fence is a manufacturer, hirer, distributor and installer of non-mechanical construction site plant. Expansion into areas such as groundworks, scaffolding and material handling equipment has seen sales more than double in two years, reaching £13.8m in 2021.
From battling alcohol at 12 to building a multi-million pound business
In 2014, whilst on vacation in Thailand, three friends from London noticed the amount of rubbish and plastic bottles on a remote island. Founders Josh White, who had previously launched an events company, Perry Alexander, a self taught graphic designer, and Ariel Booker, a headhunter, started researching and discovered that cans are more recycled than […]