B Leader bio

Always an entrepreneur from aged 13 washing the neighbourhood cars, business has always been a buzz for me. In March 2019 we sold our park café/restaurant having run it for fourteen years in the heart of the community we lived in. As founder members of the Sustainable Restaurant Association we continuously sought to be the best we could be in terms of our supply chain, our team and how we served our community. We continuously focussed on the long-term, always making decisions that were the best for our team in the knowledge that we were nothing without them. It meant some challenging times with customers that needed careful navigation. We achieved the right balance by telling our story, involving our customers in the workings of the operation, helping them to understand our challenges and our goals. We grew the business by 10% year on year in terms of sales but more importantly, we had much lower than industry average staff turnover and a very regular and happy customer base.

We sold the business in April 2019 and left Hertfordshire to live the dream in Totnes, Devon. We are currently working on a new project; a model for a plant-focussed 'better' restaurant chain, a social franchise with purpose far beyond profit. We continue to run Huddle Finance - working with businesses who have purpose beyond profit. I am excited to now be in a position to help fellow entrepreneurs and SMEs to use the B Impact Assessment to understand how and where their business can be better.

Importantly, above everything, I truly believe that a business that has a focus on sustainability, transparency and accountability has the greatest chance of longevity, financial security and above all happiness for the all the people involved in building it.

Industry

Restaurant, Hospitality & Travel

Company size experience

SME, Start-up

Impact area expertise

Employees

Companies taken through the B Impact Assessment

0

Companies taken through the B Corp Certification

0

Training cohort

Apr 2020

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