#125: From £27 to £72 Million with Grenade Co-Founder Juliet Barratt - a podcast by Alex Chisnall

from 2019-05-01T00:01

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"When we sold that business we actually retired. We went on this phenomenal holiday to Thailand and Malaysia for 6 weeks but after a matter of days, we were both really bored. We were in the pool in Malaysia and we just said "look, we know, we've got to do Grenade now" and the rest is history. It was meant to be a hobby, we were meant to be able to do it from wherever we were in the World but it very quickly turned into an obsession. This isn't a sob story...Grenade was our baby."

Really enjoyed this chat with Juliet Barratt, Co-Founder of sports nutrition brand Grenade. They launched during the last recession during 2009/2010 with just £27 in the bank then sold for £72 million to Lion Capital last year. Juliet left as of the 1st January and she's now doing a lot of giving back, working with the Princes's Trust, Virgin Unite, working with some start-ups as well. Whereas her husband and Co-Founder Alan is still the CEO of Grenade.

Grenade has over 50 staff, it retails in more than 80 countries around the World, is a market-leading sports performance and acting nutrient brand, incorporating a wide range of innovative high-protein and low-sugar products. They've been named as one of the UK's fastest growing companies and have been featured in the Sunday Times Fast Track Top 100 many, many times.

What's the secret to their success? Well, you'll have to listen to this episode to find out. Things that we talk about include:

  • timing, why there is never a perfect time to launch a new business
  • brand, making yours distinctive and memorable
  • investment, with connections
  • recruitment, with longevity in mind
  • partners, and working with yours
  • and also, pink Grenades

I start up by asking Juliet why she decided to start a business, what her motivation was, and where they think they could have taken this brand from day one.

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