Country House Weddings
Susy Dixon and Emily Bramer, Directors, 32 and 30
Type of business: Wedding venues
Location: Bermondsey
Employees: 220
Turnover: £9.92m
Investment plans: The company, run by two sisters, wants to add another
country house with “wow factor” to its existing quartet in Essex,
Gloucestershire and Somerset. “With four weddings a week across the group,
we are pretty much at capacity. To expand, we need to find another venue,”
says Bramer. Her father, a property developer, bought and restored Leez
Priory in Essex but was unable to resell it in the slump of the early 1990s.
He spotted an opportunity created by the change of law that allowed civil
ceremonies to be held outside register offices, and in 1995 the priory
became England’s first wedding venue of its type.
Quintessentially
Aaron Simpson, CEO and founder, 36
Type of business: Luxury lifestyle services
Location: Soho
Employees: 700
Turnover: £10m
Investment plans: To be the Virgin of luxury – that’s
Quintessentially’s aim. “Service in the luxury sector is very weak,” claims
Simpson.
The company began as an aggregator of luxury services on the internet and has
evolved into a lifestyle club, with a 24-hour, global concierge service.
“The web is a good tool but when people buy yachts and planes or go on
holiday, they want to talk to someone who is an expert in the field,” he
says. The firm has 16 sister businesses, including wine, cars and holidays,
and aims to create a brand name known by every taxi driver in the world.
Giving Ltd
Zarine Kharas, CEO and founder, age undisclosed
Type of business: Online fundraising service
Location: Clerkenwell
Employees: 58
Turnover: £8m
Investment plans: When Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond crashed so
spectacularly in 2006, he was airlifted to safety by the Yorkshire Air
Ambulance service. As a way of saying thank you, Alex Goss, a Hammond fan,
raised close to £200,000 for the service in seven days by using the
Justgiving website.
Justgiving empowers individuals to raise money for their chosen causes. To
date, it has enabled supporters to raise more than £350m for about 15,000
charities worldwide. The company has opened an office in Boston,
Massachusetts, and launched Firstgiving.com, an American version of its
website. The next step is to build its US presence.
“The ethos of giving is in the DNA of every American,” says Kharas, a former
City lawyer. “Grassroots philanthropy is huge – you’ve got to tap into it.”
Justgiving is also revamping its website to take advantage of the community
aspects and improved communications of web 2.0.
FreshMinds
Charlie Osmond and Caroline Plumb, CEOs, 31 and 29
Type of business: Research and recruitment
Location: Holborn
Employees: 75
Turnover: £8.5m
Investment plans: FreshNetworks, a recent addition to the FreshMinds
stable of businesses, enables big-name companies to get closer to their
customers. All over the internet, people are talking about the books they
read, the hotels they stay at, the products they consume. Using
FreshNetworks’ tools, the producers of these goods and services can join the
conversation, get feedback from customers and put forward their own points
of view.
“Consumers are already having these conversations, and the brands are keen to
participate, but they can’t because it would be like gate-crashing someone
else’s dinner party,” says Plumb. “With our technology, they can host the
conversations themselves.”
One blue-chip client is using FreshNetworks to canvass the views of its
business customers over a three-month period. “It’s like having a focus
group online,” says Osmond. “In five years’ time, I think there will be very
few companies who aren’t having these more open discussions.”
Back in 2000, Osmond and Plumb were graduating from university. They had job
offers from management consultancy McKinsey but, “swept up in the excitement
of the dotcom boom”, they decided to set up on their own. The business has
two strands: FreshMinds Research, which has twice been named UK market
research agency of the year, and FreshMinds Talent, which specialises in
recruiting for strategic, consulting and marketing roles. The two divisions
contribute equally to FreshMinds’ revenue.
Unfazed by the credit crunch, the pair are focused on expanding the business
in Europe. “We started in the downturn of 2000, so we believe that growth
comes from inside,” says Plumb. “We will continue to grow if we do a good
job.”
Gü Chocolate Puds
James Averdieck, Founder, 42
Type of business: Chocolate desserts
Location: Shepherd’s Bush
Employees: 37
Turnover: £17m
Investment plans: With 20% of its sales in France, Gü Chocolate Puds is
intent on scaling up the business at home and abroad. “In five years’ time I
would love to replicate the success of Häagen-Dazs and have a truly
international business,” says Averdieck.
Gü dates from 2003 and aims to offer its customers “a small amount of a real
indulgence”. Its products compete with own-label desserts in most
supermarkets and the company sells in Ireland and Belgium.
Expat choc-lovers in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore can also get their hands
on the products.
For 2008, the company forecasts a turnover of £24m, but can it survive the
effects of the credit crunch? “Our sales are holding up well,” says
Averdieck, “and other chocolate businesses are reporting that their sales
are pretty solid. I think indulgences are still quite high on the list for
people – but I’m not complacent about the future.”
