Challenger Chats

Challenger Chats Episode #10 with Steve Grocutt

Tamweel — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 16:32:46 +0000

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

Challenger Chats Episode #9 with Richard Hilton

Tamweel — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 22:54:00 +0000

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

Challenger Chats Episode #8 with Rod McKie

Tamweel — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 13:55:11 +0100

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

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

Tamweel — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:42:27 +0000

In this seventh episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Nisha Katona MBE, Founder and CEO of one of the country’s hottest Challenger Brands - Mowgli.

After a 20 year career as a Barrister, Nisha took a leap of faith, a massive career pivot and threw her hat in the hospitality ring with the opening of her first Mowgli restaurant in Liverpool. Mowgli is now one of the UK’s fastest growing restaurant brands, with a current stable of 18 sites across the country.

Nisha is also a successful author of multiple bestselling recipe books, she sits on the Government’s Hospitality Council and has a blossoming broadcast career, having most recently joined the Great British Menu family as a judge on the upcoming series.

In this chat we talk through Mowgli’s back story as a brand that was built utilising the power of social media, Nisha’s fundraising journey and building a structure post-investment that allows CEOs and founders to thrive, and how our recipes are so prescribed and specced, that it’s like creating paracetamol.

Dial up the volume, kick back and enjoy!

Links:

Mowgli: https://www.mowglistreetfood.com/

Nisha: https://nishakatona.com/

Socials:

Mowgli on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mowglistreetfood/

Mowgli on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mowglistreetfood/

Mowgli on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mowglistfood

Nisha on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/nishakatona

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

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

Tamweel — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 16:55:06 +0100

In this sixth episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Joanne Mathews, Founder and CEO of Ten Health & Fitness.

Ten is a wellness business that bridges the gap between the medical community and fitness markets. It was instrumental in pioneering the London boutique fitness sector back when it launched in 2007 and has since grown into the UK’s largest provider of Dynamic Reformer Pilates (think traditional pilates but taken to the next level) and has a fast growing clinically-led wellness offering.

They’ve now launched a live stream and on demand fitness & wellness platform, and in 2019 raised equity capital from Foresight to drive their expansion.

In this fascinating chat 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.

Links:

Ten: https://www.ten.co.uk/

Socials:

Ten on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenhealthfitness/

Ten on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TenHealthFitness

Ten on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TenHealthFit

Ten on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenhealthfitness/

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

Tamweel — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 11:03:26 +0100

In this fifth episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Noam Bar, co-founder of Ottolenghi.

Noam, along with co-founders Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (later joined by Cornelia Staeubli), launched their first site in Notting Hill back in 2002. They now have a collection of critically acclaimed Ottolenghi delis and two iconic restaurants in London; NOPI in the West End and ROVI in Fitzrovia.

The brand is best known internationally for its collection of hugely popular cookbooks which challenged the way that home chefs and critics alike thought about plant based cooking. It also has a growing range of ambient and chilled products for retail, and has more recently branched out into tablewares, continuing its evolution into a globally recognised lifestyle brand with its own unique, aspirational aesthetic.

Noam has been an integral part of the Ottolenghi story since its inception, and leads the group’s strategic development. In this chat we discuss Noam’s background including his early entrepreneurial foray into the telecoms sector, his subsequent pivot into food, the risks and opportunities of brand extension, how Noam and the team have tackled the challenges triggered by the Covid crisis and what’s coming next for this iconic Challenger brand.

Links:

Ottolenghi: https://ottolenghi.co.uk/

Socials:

Ottolenghi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ottolenghi/

Ottolenghi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OttolenghiUK/

Ottolenghi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ottolenghi

Ottolenghi on Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ottolenghi/

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

Tamweel — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 07:30:00 +0100

In this fourth episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Robin Rowland OBE, Operating Partner at investment fund TriSpan, Chair of Challenger hospitality brands Rosa’s Thai and Thunderbird Chicken and board member at Caffe Nero, Fuller’s and UKHospitality. This podcast is slightly different from our other podcasts. Usually we interview the founders and operators behind our favourite Challenger Brands. And whilst Robin is no longer an operator he is one of the key people behind TriSpan, which is itself a Challenger Brand in the world of hospitality investing.

A true legend in hospitality circles, this man knows what it takes to build, grow and sell Challenger Brands. His illustrious career spans growing niche challenger brands in new categories, to working with some of the most recognised household names in UK food and drink. In this conversation we touch on differences between the US and UK’s dining out landscapes, how he has found the transition to being sat on the other side of the table as an investor, his current take on valuations, and what his Gen-Z kids are teaching him about the future of the UK hospitality sector.

Links:

TriSpan: https://www.trispanllp.com/

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

Tamweel — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 11:01:26 +0000

In this third episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Matt Grech-Smith, co-founder and co-CEO of Swingers, one of the pioneers in the world of Competitive Socialising. Swingers takes large venues in city centres and transforms them into immersive experiences, combining “grown up” crazy golf, with amazing cocktails whilst you play and food created by exciting, up and coming restauranteurs.

With two venues open in Central London and a growing site pipeline in the USA, Matt and his co-founder Jeremy Simmonds raised capital from Cain International in 2018 to fund growth and expansion. We touch on this fundraising story, and also explore the development of the Swingers concept, management's discerning use of technology to complement the guest experience, and how Matt believes Swingers is well suited for US audiences.

Links:

Swingers: https://swingers.club/

Socials

Swingers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SwingersLDN/

Swingers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwingersLDN/

Swingers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwingersLDN

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

Tamweel — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 07:03:18 +0000

In this second episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Joan Murphy, co-founder of Frame, a fitness and lifestyle brand that delivers in person group exercise classes from its collection of Central London sites, as well as a recently launched digital fitness solution, streaming over 130 live classes a week to its customers, or "Framers"...

Joan re-wrote the fitness rule book; replacing rigid and long term gym memberships with a more flexible, more accessible, pay as you go format. Allowing its Framers the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of group exercise classes in a feel good, no judgement environment. This lady is on a mission... to put the fun back into fitness.

In 2017 Joan raised capital from Piper, one of the UK’s leading brand-led investors, to drive growth and expansion. We dive into this story which includes our first baby in a boardroom, and explore brand authenticity, maintaining a sense of community with an omnichannel offering and shifting consumer behaviour, fitness and wellbeing needs in a post-Covid world.

Links:

Frame: https://moveyourframe.com/

Mumhood: https://mum-hood.com/

Socials

Frame on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moveyourframe/

Joan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanonthemove/

Frame on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moveyourframe

Frame on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoveYourFRAME

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

Tamweel — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 15:06:43 +0100

In this first episode of Challenger Chats our host Adam Spencer is joined by Charlie Gilkes. Charlie is the co-founder of Inception Group, an award-winning operator of several iconic eating and drinking out brands including Mr Fogg’s, Bunga Bunga, Cahoots, as well as London’s first speakeasy Barts, and the infamous 80s themed nightclub Maggie’s.

In this fascinating conversation we talk about Charlie’s entrepreneurial journey, the ups and downs of working with a co-founder, the strategy of creating a multi-brand business, keeping themes fresh and relevant to an evolving customer, what “experiential” really means and his optimism for the future of hospitality as the social fabric of society. He also gives us his take on who he’d like to see make a guest appearance on the next series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

Links:

Inception Group: www.inception-group.com

Instagram

Charlie’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charliegilkes/

Fogg’s: https://www.instagram.com/mrfoggsgb/

Cahoots: https://www.instagram.com/cahootslondon/

Maggie’s: https://www.instagram.com/maggies_club/

Bunga Bunga: https://www.instagram.com/bungabungaldn/

Barts: https://www.instagram.com/bartslondon/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/charliegilkes

Charlie’s go-to karaoke song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04wofd-rZtE

Listen here if you're new to Challenger Chats.

Tamweel — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 12:06:57 +0100

This trailer touches on who we are, the kind of leaders you'll be hearing from in this series and what we'll be discussing on Challenger Chats. We'll be getting people to open up, 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.