Innovator of the Year Awards: Consumer
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 31 October 2023
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The businesses in this category are reinventing the very staple goods that we, as consumers, use everyday, from pet food to laundry tabs. You might not think that much can be done to improve on them, but some bright British entrepreneurs have come up with great ideas. Finalists include a subscription service for children’s bikes, so you can trade up as your children grow, and prams that can gently rock your baby to sleep while playing soothing background sounds.
Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator's business editor, judges the awards and hosts this podcast along with three other judges: Merryn Somerset Webb, senior columnist at Bloomberg and former editor in chief of Moneyweek; Gordon Black, investor and former chairman of Peter Black Holdings, a major supplier of retail goods; and Michelle White, co-head of Investec's private office.
The finalists in this category are:
- Rockit, which produces affordable vibrating devices that gently rock prams, strollers and cots to give parents some time off.
- The Friendly Chemical Co, which produces eco-friendly household, personal care and laundry products.
- Bike Club, which is Europe's largest subscription provider of children's bikes.
- Pets Purest, which creates all-natural supplements to treat ailments in pets, such as digestive, skin and joint issues.
- Lovat Parks Ltd, which is a provider of holiday homes and caravan parks.
- Net World Sports, which sells premium sports equipment at cost.
- Cascade Cash Management Ltd, which helps customers get the best returns on their savings.
- Smartify, a culture and museums app, which has partnered with more than 700 cultural institutions internationally.
- Picture News, which produces thought-provoking and engaging news resources to help teachers explore current affairs with pupils of all ages.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Spectator's Economic Innovator of the Year Awards for 2023, sponsored by InvestTech. |
| 0:15.1 | I'm Martin van der Weir. I'm the business editor of The Spectator. I'm one of the founders of these awards that are now in their sixth year. |
| 0:25.1 | With me is Michelle White from Investec, and in a moment I'll ask her to say a few words. |
| 0:30.9 | First, a bit about this particular podcast. |
| 0:34.2 | It's one of five that we've been making, covering all the finalists for this year's awards. |
| 0:40.8 | And we've separated for this one a set of consumer-facing businesses. |
| 0:49.0 | They're reinventing staple goods and products, thinking of different ways of pleasing the consumer, |
| 0:56.0 | full of interesting ideas. And as you'll hear, they're all very different. And we're going to |
| 1:02.5 | rattle through nine companies in quite quick time with the assistance of two terrific guest |
| 1:09.7 | judges who I'll ask to introduce themselves also in a moment. |
| 1:13.8 | Let me start with Michelle White from InvestTech. |
| 1:17.3 | Thanks, Martin. |
| 1:18.6 | Yes, InvestTech are the proud sponsors of the Economic Innovator Awards for the second year in a row now. |
| 1:25.2 | As a firm founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, we've been long-term |
| 1:30.3 | supporters of business owners, both internationally and here in the UK. I'm representing our |
| 1:37.6 | Investick Wealth and Investments UK business, which we've recently combined with the Rathbones |
| 1:43.1 | group, meaning that we're now in 23 |
| 1:46.0 | towns and cities across the country, so very much supporting entrepreneurs and their businesses |
| 1:52.2 | across the UK from north to south. It's been an absolute pleasure touring with you |
| 1:58.0 | and meeting the 44 finalists and look forward to talking about some of the |
| 2:01.6 | consumer-focused businesses today. Thank you, Michelle. So our first guest judge today is |
| 2:06.6 | Merrin Somerset Webb, well-known columnist. Merrin, just give us a brief introduction about yourself. |
... |
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