I recently got introduced to the producer of the BBC Radio 5 Live programme, ‘On The Money’ by a good friend, Emma Jones (founder of Start Up Britain.  If you want to start a business, check this site out first: www.startupbritain.org)

I mentioned to the producer that we were a rad start up and would be super stoked about getting on the show.  We met up in town and did a mock interview / chat over a fried egg roll, which was delicious, if only I could remember the name of the cafe.  All things went well and we were told we’ll go on the show in a couple of months, WIN!

It was two days later that we got a call asking if we could go on the following Sunday’s show as one of the guests had dropped out, so I hopped on a train to Leicester, grabbed some Jimmy’s from WHSmith and Sourced on the way through and got picked up by a pimping black 5 series BMW from St. Pancras. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. AT ALL.

I turned up at the BBC Broadcasting house, which if you haven’t been, you should go for a tour.  It’s a mind boggling experience and it’s incredible to see how it literally runs 24 hours a day.  Almost like us.

One such bunch of ‘radders’ are the awesome guys at Boscombe Bike Club.  You should check out their stuff on www.facebook.com/BoscombeBikeClub.  Basically, they get their creative mitts on old bikes from cruisers and racers to tricycles and choppers and do them up.  It’s kind of like a ‘pimp my ride’ episode without some lanky, vanilla ice-esque itch as the front man.  Josh Kay is BBC’s front man and is about as enthusiastic as they come.  He is certainly one of life’s go-getters.

We came across these guys when we did a show at Arts University Bournemouth and they asked if we’d like a Jimmy’s bike custom made by them.  We agreed and in the blink of an eye, I was invited round their workshop (kitchen) for the unveiling.

Here’s a lovely
note from Lucy, the owner of BGE who we’ve been working with!

This April, Bright Green Enterprise under its TIA Initiative, will be venturing back to Tanzania in East Africa, to work with young people from vulnerable and poverty stricken environments. The purpose of this trip has 3 main aims; to enhance young people’s understanding of business, locally, nationally and internationally; encourage a positive social and environmental attitude to business and behaviour and help empower those that are vulnerable, to succeed in pursuing their own skills and interests.

Why are we doing this? Well, if you haven’t heard about us already (which is highly likely), you won’t yet know that we work with young people across the UK, in secondary schools, to support their enterprise and work related learning development. The UK has its own issues with employment and economy, which we try to address through our work. Tanzania’s youth population struggle for different reasons; low levels of education (the average age to leave education is 14 years old) and a ‘hand to mouth’ income, mainly from agriculture.

We will be working with sixth form students at a number of secondary schools in the northern region, exploring business through three main industry sectors that are extremely relevant to the national environment: Coffee, Tourism and Fashion.

We’ve had a crazy week meeting investors, Waitrose, shareholders, driving mum to the airport, a cheeky sunset surf (have a little squint at that here… jimpaddleboard ) and going to a great event for food start ups called StartUpFood!  We we’re asked to go and make a speech about how to stand out from the crowd.

Here’s what we said:

Make amazing products that stand out on shelf, do loads of stuff to big up your business offline and ‘amplify’ the hell out of it online.  Simples.

This has been an utterly amazing year.  Here are the highlights myself and Sooz shared, apart from the beard growing:

Went to Goodwood festival of speed, went to V fest, nailed 117 Budgens, downsized our cartons to 330ml, got some great press, bought flowers for a lady who complained about our Iced Coffee, got turned down investment by the innocent boys, filled in paperwork, did the mobot, grew my beard bigger, went to Spain with Steve (legend), went to Dubai, went to Spain, hired and (sadly) fired, drove 30,000 miles, sampled heaps, pitched to Virgin Atlantic, got more Waitrose stores, got a new wing mirror for the bogey, filled out more paper work, wrapped a van, went drifting with boy racers, made some movies, went on my honeymoon, spoke at 2 schools, put up shelves, became an Evernote ambassador, met incredible people, learnt a great deal, introduced Gingerbread Iced Coffee, cried, got a loan, yelled at HSBC for being liars, made mistakes, told Lloyds they suck, laughed like mad, went to Best of Britannia, learnt to say no, drank lots of coffee, made friends, survived a 2.5 hr legal meeting and we’re still going.  WOW.

I used to study Arts & Event production at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth in early 2000 and it was amazing.  I learned stuff, made heaps of friends, cooked beans and got drunk.  Win.

It’s now called the Arts University Bournemouth and man it’s changed, for the better.  New buildings pop up regularly, the courses are amazing and the vibe is now electric with creativity.

When we got Jimmy’s stocked in their canteen, we were introduced to Simon and his simply brilliant crew in the Marketing Dept.  We then discovered we could potentially do a lot more with this story.

We began attending the AUB open days, giving out Iced Coffee to prospective students and telling the story of our relationship.  We then briefed an awesome model making student called Will, who’s made us a prototype sampling trolley.  See image above.

We are now taking it step further…

AUB are going to become our marketing department and will deliver us 3 major campaigns each year.  How does it work?

At the beginning of each term, we let students know there’s going to be a live brief taking place on campus.
We meet them and brief them….

Boil for a few minutes, whip the top off, dunk soldiers in, eat. Done.

Alternatively, you could give birth to Ben who has just sent this in by email. Ben, we love you. You are the BEST EGG EVER.

“Hi there,

Just wanted to let you know that I am totally blown away by the ‘skinny iced coffee’, it rocks big time.

I think you have totally nailed this product, on all fronts, taste, packaging, ingredients, price point.

Congratulations and it is great to see quality products like this finally in our stores !

Keep up the great work and I will definitely be spreading the word wherever possible

Cheers and all the best

Ben”

WHAT A DUDE!

N.B. No coffee was consumed in the taking of this photo!

There’s something about tea, and particularly coffee, which all children are fascinated with. Alcohol doesn’t seem to hold anywhere near the same appeal. It begins with the innocence of role-playing making cups of tea and coffee for their toys, but quickly materialises into wanting to try a sip of Mummy’s morning coffee.

For the parent, it’s a tricky dilemma, as you might think a quick sip of bitter coffee is going to be enough to deter your child’s cravings. But as some of my friends have recently discovered, this can easily backfire. It seems some three-year-old palates are a lot more sophisticated than one might expect!

I vividly recall my first cup of coffee (instant, I’m afraid!). I couldn’t have been more than eight years old, and we’d been dragged out of our beds at daybreak in preparation for our annual mission from Bournemouth to York to visit my Dad’s side of the family. Somehow I managed to persuade my Mum to let me have a cup of coffee. I’m sure she must have made it really weak and milky, but I clearly recall how horrid it tasted, yet I was determined to finish every last drop. I desperately wanted to prove to my Mum that I was becoming more grown up, and finishing a cup of coffee seemed to be a good way of getting that message across!

Whenever coffee comes up in conversation with my three-year-old daughter, we always recall together a wonderful scene in her favourite animation ‘The Iron Giant’, where nine-year old Hogarth Hughes drinks a cup or two of espresso in an attempt to convey his coolness….

Hogarth: “Coffee’s fine. Yeah, I drink it. I’m hip.”

Dean (grown-up): “I don’t know. This is espresso. It’s like coffee-zilla.”

Hogarth: “Like I said, I’m hip.”

Within seconds, Hogarth is on a caffeine bender. It always makes my daughter laugh, and thankfully it’s always helped us to explain why she can’t have coffee until she’s a grown up. “It’ll make me go crazy, like Hogarth,” she always responds.

Like all the finer things in life, coffee is worth waiting for. Do you still remember your first coffee experience? We’d love to hear your stories…