Archive

  • We made millions from Spandex costumes…then we nearly lost it all

    Posted on Sunday February 11th, 2024

    MorphCostumes is an online fancy dress costume retailer founded in 2009 by brothers Ali and Fraser Smeaton and their flatmate Gregor Lawson. The company started as a small online business selling full-body skintight costumes – commonly referred to as Morphsuits, after the founders noticed their popularity at a stag do. In 2014, the Edinburgh-based company rebranded to MorphCostumes and expanded its product line to include traditional fancy dress costumes for men, women, and children. Throughout its journey, the company has secured a total of £4.2m in equity investment and it acquired fancy dress manufacturer Fun Shack in 2019.

  • I might be battling incurable cancer, but I’m living my best life

    Posted on Wednesday January 3rd, 2024

    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 undergone intensive treatment Laura successfully beat the cancer, but a year later a pain developed in her right shoulder and in October 2016, aged only 28, Laura was told her cancer had returned to her bones.

    Laura now writes blogs and speaks at events to share her story in order to help others.

    Meeting Laura has been a blessing. She is one of the most courageous and inspirational people we have ever met and her attitude to life is quite frankly incredible. So with great pride, we are delighted to celebrate the story and journey of Laura Middleton-Hughes, founder of Bald Beautiful and Boobless.

  • I crave experiences and being a founder is the ultimate adventure

    Posted on Friday December 22nd, 2023

    UpSkill Digital is a digital skills training agency catering for both businesses and individuals. Founded by Gori Yahaya in 2015, the company provides a wide range of training modules, such as digital marketing, Google Analytics, and social strategy. UpSkill Digital is also an alumnus of the Mayor’s International Business Programme, which aims to help businesses to expand globally. With more than 390 coaches across 34 countries, the company has a number of global clients including Expedia Group, Santander and Fujitsu.

  • As a founder you have to juggle ‘doing the job’ and being the CEO

    Posted on Tuesday October 24th, 2023

    Steven co-founded Lawrence Stephens 25 years ago with two friends Stephen Messias and Lawrence Kelly. The business has since grown from a team of 3 to over 150. As a proud partner of the FEBE Growth 10, Steven shares how the founder spirit has helped him build one of the fastest growing law firms in the UK.

  • James Cadbury: Building his own chocolate empire

    Posted on Saturday September 30th, 2023

    Love Cocoa was created in 2016 by James Cadbury, who was inspired by his great-great-great grandfather John Cadbury who founded Cadbury Chocolate in 1824. Love Cocoa has an ethical and sustainable focus: its chocolate bars are free from gluten and palm oil and use recyclable and compostable packaging.

  • How we blagged meetings with buyers to build our brand

    Posted on Wednesday September 27th, 2023

    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.