The plant-based adversity story
The business news that matters
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Off to Lunch…
Adversity and entrepreneurship go together like a 1980s song by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Walt Disney was fired for not being creative, James Dyson made 5,126 prototypes of his now-renowned vacuum, and Henry Ford was denied a loan by 500 banks before he started his eponymous motoring company. Our very own Business Leader Expert Jake Humphrey was fired from McDonald’s for a lack of communication skills.
While many have crumbled under these conditions, these rock-bottom passages of time often present conditions to create something great. Ella Mills’ story is one of remarkable difficulty. People unfamiliar with her story may question these adversity credentials due to her background – her father is a former Northern Ireland secretary, and her mother is the granddaughter of Lord Sainsbury, of supermarket giant Sainsbury’s fame.
“People have seen so much of the growth of the business through the lens of social media, but that doesn't necessarily reflect reality”
What you don’t see while taking this view is a woman who just over a decade ago was housebound with severe physical health issues and in a crippling mental space of anxiety and depression. She woke up one day and decided she didn’t want doctors deciding her fate and took control. Fast forward to today and her Deliciously Ella brand has morphed into a suite of products including plant-based food products bestselling recipe books, and an app.
Read our exclusive interview with Ella now, as we discuss overcoming failure, evolving her role as founder, scaling with no marketing budget and much more.
Podcast…
The new episode of our Business Leader podcast looks at how a business can survive for 250 years and still be controlled by the same family. Rankin Brothers & Sons was founded in 1774 and is celebrating its 250th birthday in 2024. It has seen the creation of the United States of America, two World Wars, and the Covid-19 crisis. Jim Rankin is the sixth generation of the family to lead the business, which supplies corks and caps for beer, wine and spirits, but initially he didn’t want to be part of it…
You can listen to the episode on Substack here, Spotify here and Apple here
Other stories that matter…
1. The pre-election jostling continues with Labour leader Keir Starmer talking to City AM’s Andy Silvester about why he wants to run the country. The greatest hits include “We had to be really ruthless in the Labour party”, about he is “difficult to provoke, wilfully middle ground” and “When I was growing up, I didn’t think people like me would become MPs”. You can read the full interview here
2. London-based investment analyst Joachim Klement has penned a fascinating article on why small and medium-sized businesses get hit by announcements about tax cuts. You can read it here
3. She secured £200,000 during an appearance on Dragons’ Den but her online gambling portal failed not long after. She recently sold her marketing agency for £7 million and now Emmie Faust is speaking out about why external investment isn’t always the answer. You can read the thoughts of the Female Founders Rise founder here
4. With the housing market being one of the KPIs that shows economic health, we have some good news to latch on to. A new survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has shown that UK house prices are set to return to growth in the next year. You can read more here
5. A Vietnamese billionaire property developer has been sentenced to death after a trial about one of the biggest bank frauds the world has ever seen. The numbers involved are staggering with the 67-year-old found guilty of taking out £35 billion in loans from the Saigon Commercial Bank. 2,700 people were summoned to testify and around 200 lawyers were involved in the proceedings. Read the BBC’s coverage of the case here
Business Leader workshop…
Richard Harpin, the founder of Homeserve and the owner of Business Leader's parent company, is hosting a private growth workshop for up to 12 CEOs where he will discuss his secrets to growing a billion-pound business. It will be held on May 1 at a private location in central London from 8am to 10am. If you’re the founder or CEO of a business with a turnover of at least £3 million and have a workforce of more than fifteen, please get in touch if you’d like to attend. You can email craig.wilmann@businessleader.co.uk for details and to book your place
And finally…
We’ve become immune to iconic brands falling off the high street over the past few years. Wilko, Ted Baker, Cath Kidston and Mothercare are just a few of the casualties in the roaring 20s but the downfall of The Body Shop has arguably stung most. Despite passing away in 2007 and selling the company to L'Oréal in 2006, Anita Roddick’s legacy has loomed large in business circles as an icon of changing the status quo.
Business Leader’s Patricia Cullen has done a deep dive into the company’s demise and the lessons leaders of businesses of all sizes can learn. You can read it here
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