
SNAG TIGHTS – BRIE READ
More Founder Stories
You’re fired! But can I have a 50% stake in your business, please?
Despite being a naturally gifted entrepreneur, Susie turned her back on her business in 2011 to pursue her ‘dream job’ but didn’t quite live up to her expectations. We caught up with Susie to find out how she used her appearance on The Apprentice as a catalyst to become one of the UK’s most successful young female entrepreneurs
EIGHT REASONS WHY HUEL HIT £100M IN SIX YEARS
There are Hueligans everywhere – on your road, in the gym, down the pub, in your local restaurant. Hueligans aren’t people who hate spelling(!), but people with one thing in common: they all eat Huel. And their proliferation has propelled the company’s revenue to £100m in just six years. For context, there are four entries in this year’s FEBE Growth 100 to hit £100m+ in six years, but Huel is the only centurion in the consumer goods category. What’s more, it’s on a steeper growth trajectory than some of the huge names…
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.
Kubrick Group – Simon Walker
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.
‘We’ll be bigger than Heinz’
Watching three young entrepreneurs trying to chase down some of the globe’s biggest brands is a glorious sight. There’s energy, determination, a tenacious, terrier-like underdog spirit, and beneath it all a beautifully ambitious yet perfectly rational question: Why can’t we be bigger than Heinz? The answer, as any entrepreneur will tell you, is no reason at all…
How I overcame illness, tragedy and humiliation to build a multimillion-pound global brand
Rob Law has conquered more challenges than most, including family tragedy, personal illness and humiliation on national TV. Here, Rob reveals the tools he uses to dance around seemingly immovable obstacles and we uncover why having these tools in your kitbag is often the difference between success and failure…