Active Partners

Looking for your next role at a purpose-led brand? Check out some of these exciting open roles at our portfolio companies:   🛏️ Homewares brand Piglet in Bed is looking for a Merchandising Admin Assistant https://lnkd.in/eqaN6ywf   👚 Luxury workwear brand The Fold London is on the hunt for a Finance Manager https://bit.ly/41x4Fxw   🌊 Inspired by the sea, outdoor apparel brand Finisterre is hiring a Garment Technologist alongside several roles at their retail stores across the UK https://bit.ly/3PdqrAg   🌱 Allotment business Roots Allotments is hiring for a Content Creator and Growth Marketer https://bit.ly/3Si9W9h   🏫 Co-working spaces Patch is looking for a Community & Member Executive for its Twickenham site https://bit.ly/4csT1rr 🐱 KatKin, the leading fresh cat food brand, is hiring a Social Media & Community Manager https://lnkd.in/eWgJCqdZ 🍺 Pioneering craft brewery, NORTHERN MONK, is looking for a National Account Manager (Off-Trade) https://lnkd.in/evaHxUk2

Caravan Restaurants | B Corp™ officially opens the doors to its new Manchester site today, its first outside London 👏   Situated in the St John's district, it houses two all-day dining rooms, a bar, a private dining room featuring a turntable, two outside terraces, a takeout coffee brew bar, and a coffee roastery. You can read more about the opening here: https://lnkd.in/e9dcysu7

Jessica Hanley recently chatted to Kara Goldin about her journey building Piglet in Bed and what’s next. Listen to the full episode here ⬇️

“𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙗𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧. 𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩. 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧.” – Russell Bisset, Founder of NORTHERN MONK.   Russell founded Northern Monk after spotting a gap for a craft beer brand with a true sense of place in the UK. Building a brand rooted in the North which delivers incredible beer experiences has been its Northern star ever since.   For our next Behind the Brand interview, we chatted to Russell about his journey building Northern Monk into one of the UK’s leading craft breweries. The conversation covered lots of ground including:   💪 How the brand maintains its focus on community with initiatives like the Patrons Project and its Faith in Futures foundation.   🤝 Building a company culture centred on inclusivity, creativity, and a commitment to social impact – including creating a 2024 team tea towel   🍺 His favourite Northern Monk beer and the inspiration for more unusual beer flavours, like Aunt Bessie and Cuppa   🏆 Navigating Covid and becoming Yorkshire’s fastest-growing business   💡 Russell’s advice for other founders? Keep the faith. Stay true to your mission and run at it with everything you’ve got.   Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/erFADytp

Padel Social Club has been included in the Evening Standard's roundup of the best padel clubs in London 🎾 From its Soho House inspired aesthetic to its Play Dates singles' night, Padel Social Club is building a padel community with a members' club feel without the exclusivity. The Active team held our recent social there and had a blast 🙌 Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eUfcR8BR

Our portfolio company TravelLocal® has launched its first-ever Impact Report. The new report demonstrates the company's commitment to making travel a force for good, highlighting its achievements in promoting sustainable and ethical travel over the last year. Key highlights include: 🌎 Achieving B Corp certification with a score of 91.5 🌎 Donating 1% of revenue to support global charities such as Sustainable Amazon Foundation and Tree Aid 🌎 Implementing green energy initiatives in its offices in Germany and the UK Check out the full report: https://lnkd.in/eNgJj9DR

We're delighted to announce our investment in Lovetovisit.com, a travel platform helping people find and book local attractions, experiences and events online. Lovetovisit was founded by twin sisters Georgia Aubrey and Alice Aubrey alongside Fed Pereira after they noticed how difficult it was for consumers to find and book local things to do. The Lovetovisit platform offers the 19.4 million families across the UK discoverability, convenience and value when booking local attractions. Consumers can choose from more than 2,700 products currently listed, making it easier to find and book experiences tailored to their preferences at the best price. Now the team has raised £3.2 million in new funding to accelerate its mission to transform the domestic tourism industry. Led by our friends at Venrex and Redrice Ventures and supported by ourselves and Velocity Capital, the investment will be used to scale operations in the UK, further the platform’s expansion and enhance its AI capabilities to further optimise the user experience. Congratulations to Georgia, Alice and Fed, we’re looking forward to working with you! Read more in Times Enterprise Network, link in the comments ⬇️

Last week I attended Bread & Jam, the largest festival dedicated to FMCG challenger brands, and held annually in London. I loved being part of it, and thought I would share a few of my favourite moments from the event: 💬 Pitching: I was thrilled to join investors from JamJar Investments and Slake VC at the Pitching Stage to hear pitches from six seed-stage start-ups, each competing for two slots in the final round. Thank you to the teams from Tom Savano Cocktails, I AM NUT OK, MYOM, MIKOS, JNCK Bakery, and Lonkero for sharing your stories with us, and congratulations to JNCK and Lonkero for winning our vote to make it to the next stage. 🍴 Testing: I admittedly love spending my free time searching for new products in the grocery aisle, so I enjoyed exploring the Producer’s Shop where brands showcase their products asking for feedback on the product, packaging, and pricing. This was a great opportunity to discover new products, spot emerging trends before they hit retail, and try a few brands I’ve wanted to test for a while. The array of products was impressive, with many I hadn’t encountered before - I picked up some MYOM, Savvy Sweets, and Truly Nuts. 💡 Learning: I was able to sit in on a few of the sessions, and I loved hearing from founders on topics including building a challenger brand, attracting angel investment, and navigating retail vs. D2C strategies. I especially enjoyed “Pioneering a New Category” led by Jamie McCloskey, founder of LOVE CORN. The three key messages that stood out to me were: - Do your research and find a white space in a big category (in this case, Love Corn carved a space in the super saturated crisp and nut-snacking category) - Make sure your product is incredible before investing too heavily in brand - Keep it simple - especially when reinvigorating a stale category, you want your product to be reminiscent of what your consumer is used to, but better 😊 Thanks to the team at Bread & Jam (Jason Gibb) for having me! And if you’re a challenger brand in the FMCG space, please feel free to get in touch – I would love to learn more.

Exciting news as Cubitts opens its 19th store in Islington this week 👓 With nods to surrealism and Italian modernism dotted throughout, the store's architectural depth and tapering walls have been used to design a vanishing point perspective with a single spectacles display shelf that leads the eye through the store. Katie Dolby, managing director at Cubitts, said: ‘We are elated to be opening a store in Islington, Cross Street our 12th in London. In an area recognised for its narrow and small scale 17th and 18th century style properties, our design seeks to enhance the unique proportions and light filled space, creating a space that seamlessly blends with the surrounding environment.’ Congrats to the Cubitts team! Read more: https://lnkd.in/gwTrRHeh

CEO of Code First Girls, Anna Brailsford chatted to City AM as the company marks its 200,000 participants milestone 👏 The conversation covered everything from AI transformation, the challenges women face entering the tech workforce, global expansion plans and much more. Read the full piece ⬇️