IQ-Magazine-Issue-16

iQ events
time, probably less than a third of people
would be online or have gifts delivered,
so it made sense to open a shop,” Peter
explains. After the success of their first
store in Watford, they opened a second in
Milton Keynes, which did three times the
business.
1. Evangelical approach to business
In their first year as a business, the pair reached sales
of £283,000. The brand was very different from what
we know today. Named The Mint Marketing Company,
they marketed mints to clients in the hope they would
buy them. “With no office, we photocopied ads from the
Sunday newspapers, shrunk them and stuck them onto
packs of mints as samples to send out to businesses,”
explains Peter.
Their move to the chocolate industry was one made quite
by chance. One of their customers asked if they did a
little box of chocolates with their name on it and, keen to
impress, the pair went away, mocked up a smart prototype
complete with logos, and, as Peter tells us, “They said
‘Well that’s exactly what we mean. Can we order 5,000?’
We suddenly thought, well goodness gracious, we’re in
the chocolate business!”
3. Have a game plan
“From that point we decided to open
between five and ten shops a year,”
continues Peter. “And we went from a
£400,000 turnover to £16m in three
years, and were The Sunday Times Virgin
Atlantic Fast Track 100 number one fastest
growing company in the country.”
The latest venture is the launch of their cafés, one of
which is here in the Lion Yard, Cambridge. “The way
we’ve designed this is to preserve our chocolate sales but
create another reason why people could experience our
products. We’ve created a space where you can relax, have
a seat, and a hot chocolate.” Already proving a success in
Cambridge, the future for Hotel Chocolat looks bright, as
they aim to expand with cafés around the UK and gain
a firmer grip on the overseas market in the coming years.
Always meeting the most interesting entrepreneurs and
business owners at our networking events, our Hotel
Chocolat event has to be a highlight for us - inspiration,
connections and chocolate. We look forward to seeing you
all at our next event!
2. embrace a re-brand
Although successful with their chocolate, Peter pointed
out the pitfall of the business; “At the time, our brand
didn’t tell you anything about quality, it was all about the
delivery. Our chocolates had fantastic ingredients and
were beautifully made, but the brand didn’t reflect the
quality of the product. That’s when we knew that we had
to rebrand the business.”
With the rebrand came an opportunity to expand from
their current online market to the high street. “At that
More Information
Hotel Chocolat
01223 328950
www.hotelchocolat.com
Lion Yard Cambridge, CB2 3NA
issue 16 | page 49