The Friday Accelerator

Karen Green
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Hosted by Karen Green — business growth expert, former Tesco and Boots buyer, and author of Recipe for Success and Buyerology® — The Friday Accelerator helps challenger brands, founders and scale-ups achieve faster, smarter growth. Karen has worked with over 1,000 food and drink businesses, helping them secure more than £350 million in new listings. With 30+ years of experience across the UK grocery sector, she knows what it takes to go from start-up to supermarket success. How to stay focused and on track to achieve your goals The strategies behind their biggest wins Top tips for growth, resilience, and leadership

  1. You Can't Be What You Can't See: Mex Ibrahim on Women, Food and the Funding Gap

    29 maj

    You Can't Be What You Can't See: Mex Ibrahim on Women, Food and the Funding Gap

    Why are so few of the FTSE 100 led by women? If you asked a young person on the street to name a famous businesswoman, would they struggle? And if you're building a food business without a financial safety net behind you, would you expect to receive investment — not because you've been turned down, but because somewhere along the way you absorbed the idea that it simply wasn't an option for someone like you. Mex Ibrahim has spent years trying to change all that — and she's blunt about why it's still so hard. Mex is co-founder of Women in the Food Industry, a UK-based non-profit community connecting women across all food verticals — from hospitality to farming, from food production to writing. She shares what she thinks is holding women back in food, explains why the funding gap for female founders isn't improving, why 'bootstrapping' is often something of a myth, as well as how and why women approach building food businesses differently.  Listen to the interview to find out: What Women in the Food Industry does and why it spans all food roles and verticals The 'bootstrapping' myth The gap that disproportionately affects women - but nobody ever talks about  How women and men approach food entrepreneurship differently The class-coded psychology of asking for investment Links, Resources and Book Recommendations Women in the Food Industry: https://womeninthefoodindustry.com/ Connect with Mex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meccaibrahim/ The Quiet Burn by Lynne Blade: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-Burn-Ambitious-Recognizing-Preventing/dp/1639081305/ The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0349113467/ F*** Being Humble by Stephanie Sword Williams: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Humble-self-promotion-isnt-dirty/dp/1787135136/ Chapters 0:01:06 — What is Women in the Food Industry? 0:03:01 — Why span all food verticals? 0:05:16 — Evolution & geographic expansion 0:07:03 — "You can't be what you can't see" 0:10:22 — Class, privilege & the bootstrapping myth 0:14:32 — How women approach food business differently 0:19:08 — Where female founders trip up 0:21:43 — The funding gap 0:24:08 — The other gap nobody talks about 0:26:33 — 3–5 year vision for Women in the Food Industry 0:30:38 — Productivity & AI tools 0:33:29 — Book recommendations   -- Ever wondered why sometimes achieving goals is effortless and other times, it feels like pushing water uphill? Get your Friday Accelerator scorecard to find out why. Answer ten questions about your approach to work, goals and success, to access your personalised report and action list. Go to friday-accelerator.scoreapp.com now. If you want a regular dose of inspiration and impetus for growth, resilience and success, subscribe to The Friday Accelerator wherever you get your podcasts - and why not leave a review too.  If you want to accelerate your personal and business performance, you can book at discovery call at https://calendly.com/buyerology/friday-accelerator-1-1

    37 min
  2. How to be Number One in Your Category with Ramona Hazan

    24 apr.

    How to be Number One in Your Category with Ramona Hazan

    Ramona Hazan is the founder of Ramona’s, the UK's number one hummus brand. Stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Asda, Waitrose and more, how did she do it? In this conversation, Ramona talks about what that journey actually looked like: from a one-bedroom flat full of chickpeas to mainstream retail, via a brand name she had to abandon for a reason no one could have foreseen.  We get into investment and why she's sceptical of large seed rounds before revenue, and what building a resilient business actually means in practice. She talks about quality as the only true non-negotiable and shares the factory-floor story that proved her approach had worked. How she defines a successful week might quietly change how you think about your own. If you're building a food business, this is essential listening: Why 21 years without a ‘hockey-stick moment’ is actually good business The most dangerous thing a founder can do when it comes to investment How Ramona branded her way through the "wall of beige" in the chilled aisle Why getting into Tesco doesn't mean your sales will take off - yet How and why she measures the "love" coming from customers   Links Find out more about the Ramona’s range: https://ramonaskitchen.coma Connect with Ramona on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramona-hazan/   Chapters 01:52 - How a brand breaks through in an own-label category 03:07 - When a global movement destroys your brand name 04:14 - 17 years of no - and the break that finally came 05:52 - From falafel balls to a 9kg blender: the operational journey 07:52 - Why the packaging is that bright 08:41 - Investment, the cockroach principle, and why millions can be a trap 13:28 - What gets Ramona out of bed now 15:13 - Stretching the brand 18:49 - Is being in love with your business dangerous? 20:51 - Redefining a good week 24:29 - The one thing she repeats until they want to kill her 25:29 - Putting extra love in 26:31 - The email address on every pot 29:01 - Work-life balance and why she's stopped worrying about it 31:46 - Eat the frog 34:17 - Quick-fire questions -- Ever wondered why sometimes achieving goals is effortless and other times, it feels like pushing water uphill? Get your Friday Accelerator scorecard to find out why. Answer ten questions about your approach to work, goals and success, to access your personalised report and action list. Go to friday-accelerator.scoreapp.com now. If you want a regular dose of inspiration and impetus for growth, resilience and success, subscribe to The Friday Accelerator wherever you get your podcasts - and why not leave a review too.  If you want to accelerate your personal and business performance, you can book at discovery call at https://calendly.com/buyerology/friday-accelerator-1-1

    37 min
  3. She Couldn't Buy It, So She Built It: Borough Broth's Ros Heathcote

    13 mars

    She Couldn't Buy It, So She Built It: Borough Broth's Ros Heathcote

    Ros Heathcote founded Borough Broth in 2015 with no food industry background, no manufacturing experience and no contacts - just a gut health problem, a systems-thinking brain, and a butcher who was paying to throw his bones away. Within a year, she had a Selfridges listing. Today Borough Broth is stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Ocado, Whole Foods, Planet Organic, Abel & Cole and more, and has just completed a raise with Piper Private Equity. This is a candid conversation about what a decade of slow, deliberate building actually looks like, including the moment when it didn't go to plan and Ros felt like "jumping off a building". Listen to find out: Why Ros founded Borough Broth despite having no food industry experience, but with key skills and strengths. How her journey began as part of a personal health regimen and how it became a business. The transition and challenges of scaling from small, shared kitchen to a larger industrial environment. The importance of staying on top of financials and building investor relationships. How she runs Borough Broth, the transition to an SLT and the demands on a founder as the business grows up. Chapters: 01:34 — Origin story: gut health, a dismissive GP, and butcher's waste bins 05:12 — From IT consultant to food founder 06:44 — Early growth: organic beginnings, Selfridges in year one 09:15 — How the Ocado relationship started 12:20 — Raising with Piper Private Equity: how it actually happened 14:31 — Is broth a one-trick pony? The frozen cube launch 19:04 — From solo founder to SLTs, and how Ros structures her week 21:48 — Goal setting, board meetings and KPIs post-raise 23:20 — The EOS model: Visionary vs Integrator 30:22 — Burnout, Long Covid, and the retailer crisis that risked everything 33:10 — Asana, founder podcasts, and how LinkedIn misleads 35:46 — Quickfire questions   Links and Resources Connect with Ros on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosheathcote/ Find out more about Borough Broth, find stockists and buy online: https://boroughbroth.co.uk/ New Frozen Beef Bone Broth Cubes available on Ocado: https://www.ocado.com/products/borough-broth-organic-frozen-beef-bone-broth-cubes/683981011  Register for IFE, March 30-April 1, where Ros and Karen will be speaking: https://www.ife.co.uk/    -- Ever wondered why sometimes achieving goals is effortless and other times, it feels like pushing water uphill? Get your Friday Accelerator scorecard to find out why. Answer ten questions about your approach to work, goals and success, to access your personalised report and action list. Go to friday-accelerator.scoreapp.com now. If you want a regular dose of inspiration and impetus for growth, resilience and success, subscribe to The Friday Accelerator wherever you get your podcasts - and why not leave a review too.  If you want to accelerate your personal and business performance, you can book at discovery call at https://calendly.com/buyerology/friday-accelerator-1-1

    38 min
  4. How ByRuby Won Over Charlie Bigham

    2025-11-21

    How ByRuby Won Over Charlie Bigham

    Milly Bagot co-founded ByRuby with a mission to create premium frozen meals that taste like "one of your really good friends - who happens to be a great cook - has filled your freezer for you." What started as a side project at Finn's deli in Chelsea transformed into a standalone business that grew fast and caught the attention of Charlie Bigham. In this conversation, Milly shares the story of that accelerated their growth, the challenges of balancing profitability and growth, what it's like being part of a much larger organisation now and how By Ruby has helped change the perception of frozen food. She's refreshingly honest about the challenges in retail, the drivers of that early growth, and why she refuses to compromise on quality even when costs are rising. Listen to discover: The journey that took Ruby from Finn's deli to the Charlie Bigham family All about the ideas and experiences that sparked the ByRuby concept How to 5x your rate of sale in the supermarket What her non-negotiables are even in a challenging market How she runs her week and plans for success while 'staying sane' Where she has her best ideas and makes time for growth Where to Find ByRuby: Buy online at https://byruby.co.uk/ Also available on Ocado and in independent shops across the UK Follow on Instagram for freezer hacks and foodie inspiration at https://www.instagram.com/byrubyfoods/ Connect with Milly on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/milly-bagot-83a22517a/ -- Ever wondered why sometimes achieving goals is effortless and other times, it feels like pushing water uphill? Get your Friday Accelerator scorecard to find out why. Answer ten questions about your approach to work, goals and success, to access your personalised report and action list. Go to friday-accelerator.scoreapp.com now. If you want a regular dose of inspiration and impetus for growth, resilience and success, subscribe to The Friday Accelerator wherever you get your podcasts - and why not leave a review too.  If you want to accelerate your personal and business performance, you can book at discovery call at https://calendly.com/buyerology/friday-accelerator-1-1

    33 min
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Om

Hosted by Karen Green — business growth expert, former Tesco and Boots buyer, and author of Recipe for Success and Buyerology® — The Friday Accelerator helps challenger brands, founders and scale-ups achieve faster, smarter growth. Karen has worked with over 1,000 food and drink businesses, helping them secure more than £350 million in new listings. With 30+ years of experience across the UK grocery sector, she knows what it takes to go from start-up to supermarket success. How to stay focused and on track to achieve your goals The strategies behind their biggest wins Top tips for growth, resilience, and leadership

Information

  • Skapad av
    Karen Green
  • Aktiva år
    2025 - 2026
  • Avsnitt
    7
  • Åldersgräns
    Barnvänligt
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025. All rights reserved.
  • Programmets webbplats
    The Friday Accelerator

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