Forest Hill mum’s win Lewisham Business award and much more
Thu 7th August 2014
Two parents from Forest Hill, Lucy Woodhouse and Meriel Kelhoe, who co-founded Claudi & Fin frozen yogurt lollies, have won a Mayor of Lewisham Business Award.
The mums picked up the award for best New Business from Sir Steve Bullock on Tuesday 29 July at Sainsbury’s in Bell Green.
The idea for Claudi & Fin yogurt lollies (which is named after their children) came about when, after struggling to find any lollies with natural, wholesome ingredients to give to their children, they decided to set about making their own.
As part of the development of the business, Lucy attended a Start-Up Seminar in 2012, supported by South East Enterprise for the Lewisham Business Advisory Service where she gained invaluable advice on legal structures, financial opportunities and how to write a business plan.
Armed with this new expertise, Lucy and Meriel secured funding and entered a competition run by StartUp Britain called PitchUp with Sainsbury’s, which was designed to give British food start-ups the chance to pitch their products to top food buyers.
The pair beat 10 finalists to become one of four start-ups to secure a 12-month contract to supply over 300 Sainsbury’s stores with their brand of frozen lollies.
Meriel Kehoe, said: “Lucy and I are absolutely thrilled to have won this award. It's taken more than two years of really hard work to get our Greek style frozen yoghurt lollies launched and this amazing accolade is confirmation that all the hard work and sacrifice have been worth it! Although our lollies are available nationwide in Sainsburys, we very much see ourselves as a Lewisham business and are grateful for the local support we have received; from the business advice we got from Tony Goldstein at South East Enterprises to the advice on food labelling we received from the local council. We are forever in their debt for helping us on our path to success".
Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, said: “This is an excellent example of local entrepreneurism at its best. In Lewisham we are passionate about supporting businesses with advice and help to develop new ideas, so it is particularly encouraging to see such a great start-up from Lewisham selected for such a life-changing supermarket deal. Lucy and Merial are worthy recipients of this award and I wish Claudi & Fin all the very best for the future.”
Tony Goldstein, managing Director of SEE said: "Lucy and Meriel have amazing resolve and determination as well as a fantastic insight into market needs to develop their Frozen Greek Style Yogurt. It’s particularly satisfying to see Claudi & Fin win this business award, it’s very well deserved and it is a genuine pleasure working with them as their business adviser. I forecast that Claudi & Fin will be one to watch".
Other winners in this round of the Mayor of Lewisham Business Awards were Phoebes Garden Centre in the Corporate Social Responsibility category and MuLondon in the Customer Care category.
The Mayor of Lewisham Business awards are an opportunity for local businesses to celebrate their successes and to increase their profile within the community. The awards are open to any business in the borough and nominations can be made by anyone.
For more information about the Business Awards and how to apply for the next round go to www.lewisham.gov.uk/businessawards
images and editorial courtesy of London Borough of Lewisham, Lewisham Life