People Doing Things

Welcome Tarek Moursi, the founder of Better Sundays - the hard kombucha brand proving that you don't have to choose between a good time and a good gut. We've spent the last decade watching the 'low and no' category take off, and while it's great for a Tuesday night, sometimes you still want a drink - you just don't want the beer bloat or the sugar-laden cider crash. Enter the 'healthy hedonist'. R...

Say hello Claudia Boyer, co-founder of JENKI - the UK's favourite matcha brand, coming to a high street near you. Swapping the coffee jitters for a 'calm focus'. As a coffee lover, I've always been curious (yet skeptical) of matcha. Isn't it just 'green tea' rebranded for a new generation? For those who want to feel focused, not wired - swapping bean origin and moka pots for function and status -...

Say hello to Lou and Sofia, co-founders of SPILL - the tea brand on a mission to 'spill the tea' on a broken global industry. We've all been there: standing in the supermarket aisle, reaching for a box of bags for a couple of quid. It's convenient, it's 'British', but as Lou and Sofia realised, it's dull and ethically murky. That's because most 'everyday' tea is a blend of hundreds of cheap leaves...

Say hello to Joseph De Klee, the founder and publisher of The Pass - the tabloid publication staging a coup against the shallow scroll of the hype-led algorithm. Since the rise of fast-form, video-based social content, we've been 'robbed' of honest restaurant reviews. We've traded hard graft for hype, and the beauty of the written word for the 'like' button. It's a landscape where the algorithm di...

Introducing Mark Selby, the co-founder and CEO of Wahaca - the brand that sparked the UK's Mexican food revolution. The big, bland problem: Back in 2007, the UK was stuck in a Tex-Mex time warp. Think heavy cheese, stodgy nachos, and sombreros. It was a caricature of a culture that deserved better.  Mark and his co-founder Thomasina Miers saw this gap and turned it into a movement, bringing the vi...

Say hello to Christian Samuel, one of the great minds behind Roots Allotments, the brand that is completely reimagining local allotments for the 21st century. The big muddy problem: gargantuan waiting lists up and down the country. With the average waiting time being 2 years and some taking as long as 17 years - making it almost impossible for most people to grow their own food in the UK, made wor...

Ben da Costa is one of brilliant minds behind Oat Cult - the overnight oats brand inviting you to join the cult (if you dare).  Having burst onto the breakfast scene earlier this year they've taken socials by storm with their standout packaging and provocative illustrative content as well as a debut brand film, parodying horror films like The Wicker Man, showcasing a fictional cult with a devotion...

Today, we are swapping the confectionery aisle for the bathroom cabinet with a founder who is turning the entire skincare world on its head. I'm excited to introduce Danielle Close, founder of My Skin Feels - the award-winning brand that is turning food waste into feel-good skincare. Danielle spent nearly 15 years in the beauty industry, including a formative role on the founding team of Charlotte...

Introducing Fliss Newland, founder of Wild Thingz - the venus-fly-trap-bug-eating kids sweet brand with no artificials and half the sugar of traditional sweets. And they're vegan too on a mission to take the mental load off parents wherever they can stocked in the likes of Ocado, Amazon, Wholefoods and Planet Organic with more on the horizon.    Having been an international sweet pusher for Mondel...

Say hello to Brodie Meah, founder of Top Cuvée - London's top spot for new wines and a hallmark of the UK's progressive wine scene.  Founded in January 2019 as a neighborhood wine bar and restaurant Top Cuvée has found numerous ways to express itself over the last six years. From their original restaurant in Highbury and wine shop around the corner to their underground wine bar Cave Cuvée in Shore...

Meet Martin, founder of Grubby. If you haven't heard of them, Grubby is the UK's first plant-based recipe kit, on a mission to make plant-based cooking so delicious and accessible, you'll never even think about missing meat. Martin's journey is a wild one. From a B2B office delivery service pre-COVID to landing back at his parents' place in 2020 with every penny spent, wondering what was next. The...

Introducing Sarah Vachon, the brainchild behind Citizens of Soil - the regenerative olive oil brand championing the farmers' who deserve a seat at the table - cold pressed extra virgin olive oil from small batch producers in Greece and Spain as well as rarer varieties from the likes of Italy, Portugal and Croatia. Full of polyphenols and powerful antioxidants, there's a reason why people in the Me...

Say hello to Imogen Royall. She's one half of Northern Pasta Co - the spelt pasta brand championing regenerative British farming, on a mission to craft unbeatably delicious pasta without compromise. Based in Kendal up in Cumbria, the brand was set up in 2022 by Imogen Royall, an interior designer, and her builder husband Matt after falling in love with pasta, turning a seedling of an idea into a l...

Introducing Rachel Kettlewell. She's the founder of Fearne & Rosie, the jam challenger on a mission to spread goodness up and down the country, packing as much fruit into as many mouths, hearts and minds as possible. Having launched a little over 5 years ago she's now stocked in over 5000 stocking points including the likes of Asda, Co-op and Tesco.  Hailing from Withington,  Manchester, the brand...

Say hi to Ella. She's the founder of Fatso, the chocolate challenger, on a mission to prove that dark chocolate can be just as fun, delicious and chunky as milk. Founded in 2022, Fatso is stocked in over 350 stores with taste-makers and independents like Liberty, Harvey Nichols as well as hotels and offices, counted amongst its many stockists. Driven by an all female team, they're proof that you c...

Tom Palmer is the founder of Yep Kitchen, the Sichuan chilli oil taking the deli scene by storm now in over 180 stores across the UK from Cornwall to Scotland with more on the horizon.  Founded in 2022, after a decade of living in China, Tom decided to swap textbooks for taste buds, leaving his career in education to turn his passion into a business. On a mission to bring the bold, rich flavours o...

Say hello to Tim Chong. He's the founder of Yonder, the next generation credit card company on a mission to make credit more inclusive, accessible, and rewarding. Instead of just offering you air miles, they invite modern explorers into a world of trending restaurants, breakthrough brands, and uplifting experiences with points that are not only easier to use but more enjoyable to spend.  Inspired...

Introducing Scott Davies. He's the founder of Hilltop Honey, the 2nd largest honey brand in the UK with a turnover of £44mn selling over 13,000 tonnes of honey a year, the equivalent of 1000 double-decker buses. And while honey sales have been relatively stagnant for the last few years, Hilltop Honey has bucked the trend growing at an outstanding 22% a year.  It's impressive. Scott grew up in a pr...

Say hello to Dan Szor. He's the founder of the Cotswolds Distillery, a pioneering whisky distillery that has learned the rules like a pro, only to break them like an artist. Working with master distillers Jim McEwan from Bruichladdich and whisky veteran Harry Cockburn from Bowmore, the Cotswolds Distillery was one of only 4 English whisky distilleries when it was founded in 2014. Now there are 55....

Drew Wolf is the creative director turned condiment radical who got tired of traditional advertising and decided to make his own fermented hot sauce brand, named Kold Sauce instead. The cold pressed red, green and yellow stuff was part social experiment, part creative outlet, part really good f*cking hot sauce - following his creative curiosity and pepper addiction wherever it takes him, 5am marke...

Introducing Tess. She's the founder of All Dressed Up, the flavour-first salad dressings company on a mission to elevate everyday meals (not just salad leaves) using trending ingredients people know and love without any of the artificial ingredients that supermarket brands use.  After cutting her teeth in the fast-paced FMCG world with names like Coconut Collaborative and Perkbox, Tess took a bold...

Say hello to Ben Vear. He's the co-founder of Living Things, the low sugar, all natural, prebiotic soda taking London by storm, exporting to five countries and selling a can every minute with more bubbles on the horizon.   Backed by Brewdog co-founder James Watt, the gut loving brand raised a large family and friends pre-seed round, and is now looking to raise further funds to grow the team and ex...

Say hello to Ollie Scott. Chief 'Unknownian' behind the UK's most unexpected creative recruitment company. A wild bunch of multi-talented humans working across product, creative, client services, design, strategy and leadership; building A-class teams at some of the world's most dynamic agencies.  Having founded Unknown in 2019, Ollie set out to break the mould in recruitment. By remaining curious...

Say hi to Will of Willy's Pies - the lockdown-born culinary success story that has put pies firmly back on the map. The quintessentially British pies are handmade in Hackney (where else?), with a focus on elevated fillings using local ingredients, and lots of it.  Drawing on a decade of experience as a top-line chef, Will's furlough brain-child has since grown out of his home kitchen and into a co...

Say hello to Simon Beckerman, the creative force turned entrepreneur behind Gen Z's favourite fashion marketplace, Depop, which he sold to Etsy for a staggering £1.25 billion. Today, we're discussing his more recent venture, Delli, the culinary marketplace that lets independent chefs and businesses sell food on their own terms Founded in 2020, a year before selling Depop, Delli reflects Simon's be...