Challenger Chats

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Challenger Chats

Tamweel

11 episodes

4 months ago

Welcome to Challenger Chats. A series of no holds barred conversations with business leaders and the Founders of some of the UK's hottest consumer facing brands, where we’ll pop the hood and look under the bonnet to see what makes them tick. We’ll get them to open up and speak from the heart, telling us about the road blocks they’ve encountered, what causes them to lose sleep at night and what they love, and hate, about today’s consumer. Challenger Chats is powered by Tamweel, an M&A and Private Equity deal doing business that specialises in advising the UK’s best and brightest Challenger Brands.

All content for Challenger Chats is the property of Tamweel and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Entrepreneurship

Business,

Investing

Episodes (11/11)

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #10 with Steve Grocutt

Challenger Chats is back with another deep dive into the world of game-changing brands! This time, we sit down with Steve Grocutt, founder of Cornish Bakery, to uncover the incredible story behind one of the UK’s fastest-growing bakery brands.

With a firm belief that “Bakery is the new Coffee Shop”, Steve has built a business that has redefined what a bakery is, does and can be. Cornish Bakery is a modern bakery creating beautiful, welcoming, community spaces where people can relax, connect, and enjoy exceptional, freshly made food and coffee.

From its humble beginnings in Mevagissey, Cornish Bakery is growing fast with a current trading estate of 66 stores and counting, in bustling tourist hotspots, charming market towns, and vibrant city centres across the country. Its formula? Authenticity, quality, and a deep understanding of what today’s customers want.

Steve shares his journey - his bold vision, the lessons learned along the way, and what it takes to build a standout hospitality brand that is shaking things up on the high street. In this episode we explore:

✅ The origins of Cornish Bakery and what inspired Steve to start
✅ The challenges of scaling while maintaining quality and culture
✅ The secret ingredient behind Cornish Bakery’s success

✅ How he dealt with letting go of the reins and transitioning from ‘Founder CEO’ to ‘Founder Investor’
✅ What’s next for the brand and its continued expansion

If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship, hospitality, or simply love a great brand and founder story, this episode is not to be missed!

Links:

Fairgame: https://thecornishbakery.com/

Our fantastic show producer is Fina Charleson. Find out more about her work at https://www.finacharleson.com

7 months ago

54 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #9 with Richard Hilton

Roll up, roll up to the latest instalment of Challenger Chats, the podcast that showcases the movers and shakers behind the UK's best and brightest Challenger Brands. We’ve made it to the very satisfyingly numbered Episode 2, of Season 2…

In the hot seat is none other than Richard Hilton. A brandophile through and through, he started his career by hawking his CV to the advertising agencies on New York’s Madison Avenue, eventually returning to the UK to found ground-breaking gym brand Gymbox, followed by one of London’s busiest competitive socialising venues Fairgame. Richard has raised debt, mezzanine and equity finance, bought out his investors (twice!) with the war scars to back it up. We have a wide ranging chat covering the worlds of brand marketing, entrepreneurship, fundraising and Richard’s development as a CEO and leader.

Dial up the volume, kick back and enjoy!

Links:

Fairgame: https://www.wearefairgame.com/

Our fantastic show producer is Fina Charleson. Find out more about her work at https://www.finacharleson.com

11 months ago

43 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #8 with Rod McKie

Season II of Challenger Chats has officially landed! A collection of raw, unfiltered conversations with the movers and shakers behind the UK's best and brightest Challenger Brands.

Kicking off Season II in style, we’re thrilled to have Rod McKie in the hot seat - one of the UK’s most experienced hospitality operators with a resume that reads like a who’s who of the hospitality world – cutting his teeth at TGI Friday’s, subsequently working alongside industry legend Julian Metcalfe at Pret a Manger and then spending 14 years at the helm of Welcome Break. For the past decade he’s shared his experience and insights with several of the UK’s hottest hospitality brands, either as non-exec director or Chair, working with the likes of Megan’s, Sticks ‘n’Sushi, rhubarb and New World Trading Company.

So, if you’re an aspiring non exec, or just want to listen to a captivating story, then you don’t want to miss this one.

Dial up the volume, kick back and enjoy!

Links:

Megan’s: https://megans.co.uk/

New World Trading Company: https://nwtc.uk.com/

Sticks‘n’Sushi: https://sticksnsushi.com/

Welcome Break: https://www.welcomebreak.co.uk/

Rhubarb Hospitality Collection: https://rhchospitality.com/

Our fantastic show producer is Fina Charleson. Find out more about her work at https://www.finacharleson.com

1 year ago

52 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #7 with Nisha Katona MBE, Founder of Mowgli

A conversation with Nisha Katona MBE, Founder and CEO of Mowgli Street Food and best selling recipe book author. Nisha has built one of the UK’s most exciting restaurant brands in Mowgli. It has blossomed into a business of scale with a loyal and cult following. It’s focus on staff welfare, community and job creation makes it one of the sector’s leading ESG operators; whilst also smashing it commercially in the fast casual sector.

3 years ago

53 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #6 with Joanne Mathews, Founder of Ten Health & Fitness

A conversation with Joanne Mathews, Founder and CEO of Ten Health & Fitness, a leading wellness business that bridges the gap between the medical community and fitness markets. We talk through the origins of Ten as a result of an unfortunate but ultimately happy accident, Jo’s fundraising journey, and how it’s made her a more effective leader, and take a deep dive into the current state of the fitness and wellness sector.

4 years ago

53 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #5 with Noam Bar, Co-Founder of Ottolenghi

A conversation with Noam Bar, co-founder of Ottolenghi, one of the UK’s most well-known food brands. A brand inspired and influenced by the shared Israeli and Palestinian roots of its co-founders, Noam Bar, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. We talk through Noam’s 20 year journey with Ottolenghi, from its origins as a cosy neighbourhood deli in Notting Hill and its evolution into a global lifestyle brand and pioneer of plant based cooking whilst navigating the perils and opportunities of brand extension.

4 years ago

37 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #4 with Robin Rowland OBE, Operating Partner at TriSpan

A conversation with hospitality sector legend Robin Rowland OBE. Robin boasts a long and varied career in hospitality, as operator (perhaps best known for taking YO! Sushi from 2 to over 100 units) and more recently as investor with global private equity fund TriSpan. In a wide ranging conversation he shares amongst other things his insights into the future of hospitality in a post-Covid world, and how he approaches the sensitive topic of valuations in such a volatile climate. This is one not to miss!

4 years ago

1 hour 5 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #3 with Matt Grech-Smith, Co-Founder of Swingers

A conversation with Matt Grech-Smith, co-founder of Swingers, one of the movers and shakers in the world of Competitive Socialising. We talk about the meteoric rise of the Swingers brand, Matt's experience of raising capital from Cain International, and why they think they'll succeed in the US where others have failed.

4 years ago

1 hour 3 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #2 with Joan Murphy, Co-Founder of Frame

A conversation with Joan Murphy, co-founder of fitness and lifestyle brand Frame. We talk about Joan’s whirlwind experience of raising capital from Piper, the perils of social media, the need for authenticity when building a brand and regular old chit chat about babies, boardrooms and pole vaulting (as you do)!

4 years ago

47 minutes

Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #1 with Charlie Gilkes, Co-Founder of Inception Group

A conversation with Charlie Gilkes, co-founder of Inception Group, London’s leading experiential hospitality business. We talk about Charlie’s entrepreneurial journey, starting off at the age of 3 selling hand drawn pictures to his neighbours all the way through to establishing a collection of some of the finest hospitality brands in London.

5 years ago

53 minutes

Challenger Chats

Listen here if you're new to Challenger Chats.

Challenger Chats, hosted by Adam Spencer, is a series of no holds barred conversations with the business leaders and Founders of some of the UK's hottest consumer facing brands. Adam will pop the hood and look under the bonnet to see what makes these businesses tick, what drives its people and what life is like behind the wheel of a Challenger Brand.

5 years ago

1 minute