Podcasts about cleanco

Who's ready for another round? Having now seen The Witcher's second animated movie, we thought it would be fun to revisit its first one, 2021's Nightmare of the Wolf—and we brought new viewer Producer Sean along for the ride! How does this Vesemir-starring prequel hold up four years and two show seasons later? Does it still feel like The Witcher now that we've gotten a better feel for the franchise? And what's up with Geralt's hair? (Sadly, we don't yet have an answer for that last one.) Plus, to accompany this second viewing, Sean's made an all-new whiskey pairing…with a twist. Clean W by CleanCo is the first non-alcoholic whiskey we've sampled on the podcast, though if you think going the zero-proof route means we're any less unhinged, think again. Hold music: "Local Forecast - Slower" by Kevin MacLeod

In this video, Spencer Matthews shares the life-changing experience of running 30 marathons in 30 days. He opens up about the intense physical and mental challenges he faced, revealing how pushing his body to the limit reshaped his mindset and transformed his life. More than just a personal challenge, Spencer reflects on how this feat has shifted people's perceptions of him—allowing him to inspire others through his journey. Beyond the marathons, Spencer discusses the highs and lows he's encountered as an entrepreneur since founding his non-alcoholic gin company, CleanCo. From overcoming setbacks to celebrating milestones, he offers a raw and inspiring look into what it takes to succeed both in business and in life. Tune in to hear Spencer's powerful lessons on resilience, leadership, and how his journey has allowed him to make a meaningful impact on others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congratulations all you dry January Drinkers! To commemorate the moment, we've only got TV star, podcaster and 'CleanCo' entrepreneur, Spencer Matthews on the podcast!Spencer made a name for himself in 2011, appearing in 'Made In Chelsea', a show that captured the life of affluent young people living in West London. He explains on the pod how filming for a TV show affected his drinking habits negatively... After too many nights of drinking whiskey on the sofa, Spencer decided to call it quits and go sober. His sobriety went from strength to strength, leading him to start his own business called 'CleanCo' which specialises in creating different non-alcoholic products for all to enjoy! (They're very tasty).This conversation with Spencer is really interesting for a number of reasons, one of those being his decision to drink again after becoming alcohol free. Definitely a powerful conversation which listeners will take many key learnings from! In this episode, Spencer shares with Jamie and Tom how he managed to overcome addiction, why we should all practice resilience and what he taps into to stay in control.Follow us on socials - https://www.instagram.com/thinkitsallsober or email us at theythinkitsallsober@gmail.com

Chief Executive Officer Billy Paretti shares CleanCo's mission to redefine non-alcoholic spirits. Billy shares how CleanCo is making these dynamic, exciting new spirits essential to every cocktail bar, both in restaurants & taverns around the world as well as at home

Coles stores and linked departments in Queensland are becoming cleaner and more environmentally sustainable  The supermarket giant is teaming up with CleanCo to use solar energy in all stores.  Rural reporter Georgia Kondek spoke with CleanCo's Chief Executive Tom Metcalfe who says Christmas shoppers will get to see these clean energy impacts first handSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2023 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the annual benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcastCompetition ends on 20th December 2023. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.  Show references: https://vectis.ventures/https://robin-hill.com/https://blackgangchine.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominic-wray-a1b52766/Dominic Wray is the Parks Director of Vectis Ventures, the parent company of the Isle of Wights two leading attractions; Robin Hill, and the UK's oldest theme park, Blackgang Chine. After 7 years of running Blackgang Chine as the Park Manager, he stepped into his role as Parks Director to play a vital position in the planning and execution of the longer term business strategy. Having been in this role for around 15 months, he has led on some big changes and transformations within the business, as well as navigating what has been a challenging year for the leisure industry as a whole. Dominic attributes much of his success, and enjoyment of his career to the people in it. Sitting on the Management Committee for BALPPA, he is a huge advocate for industry networking and enabling peer to peer learning opportunities. He then uses this platform as a way to the develop the team that he is so passionate about, allowing them to flourish into the industry known experts of their fields. Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode, I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. On today's episode, I speak with Dominic Wray, Parks Director at Vectis Ventures. We talk about Blackgang Chine, the 180 year old attraction, and Dominic shares his three top tips on transforming processes and developing superstar people. If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue. Welcome to the podcast, Dominic. It's great to have you on today. Dominic Wray: Thanks for having me. Looking forward to it. Kelly Molson: Everyone says that at the start, and then I give them icebreaker questions, and they hate me. But this is how the podcast always starts, so you have to do them. Right. If you could enter the Olympics for anything, what would you be Olympic level at? And we're not talking it doesn't have to be sports here. It could be like baking or Olympic level complainer. Anything goes. What's your Olympic level at? Dominic Wray: I think I would actually answer the sports based question answered that. I always, when I was growing up, wanted to play in the NBA. Basketball was a big passion of mine. So I'd say I'd want to enter the Olympics as a basketball player. Kelly Molson: Okay. And do you play now? Is this something that you are actually good at? Dominic Wray: Not so much now, no. I don't want to use the old adage if I got injured, but I did. Kelly Molson: Oh, no. Dominic Wray: We'll never know if I could have made it or not. Kelly Molson: Good one. Have you ever been mistaken for someone famous? Dominic Wray: Yeah, actually, yes, twice. Someone once said to me I look like Joel Dormot. I think he's a comedian. And some of the team seemed to think I look like Mark Wright. Kelly Molson: I know this one. So I saw the picture that Laura Baxter posted of your LinkedIn. I have to say, I did a second look, Mark. Dominic Wray: Yeah. I mean, I'll take it. I think Mark Wright's the right looking chap, so could be worse, I suppose. Kelly Molson: Okay. All right. A final one. What one thing would you make a law that isn't already? I've got a good one for this. So if I could be in charge of laws, I would make it a law that nobody could just stop in the middle of the pavement and look at their mobile phone, or walk upstairs with their mobile staring at their mobile phone, not actually looking where they're going, because it just makes me want to swipe people's legs away. Because they just stop in front of you or they walk really slowly up the stairs. That would be one of mine. Dominic Wray: I'd go with, everyone needs to learn how to go through security at an airport. There's nothing more frustrating when you get there and the person in front of you isn't aware of how to go through and then there's a bit that delays the queues. Kelly Molson: Good one. That's a really good one. They get quite shouty, the security people now, don't they? When you're queuing up like, they're shouting at you about your liquids and your jackets and you take your belts off, and I'm like, "If I take my belt off, my trousers are going to fall down. I'm not even halfway there yet." I like that one. Okay, what's your unpopular opinion? Dominic Wray: My unpopular opinion is that motorists ruined the road for cyclists. Which I'm sure will be incredibly controversial. Yeah, that's my unpopular opinion. Kelly Molson: This is going to be a controversial one and I really want to know what you think about this one, listeners. Yeah, I don't agree with you, but you are a hardcore cyclist. I'm going op guess.Dominic Wray: I do pay my road tax, drive a car myself, but yeah, someone that very much enjoys road cycling. Yeah, that is definitely my viewpoint on other motorists. Kelly Molson: I think there needs to be made room for both on the roads. There's not sufficient cycle lanes in areas where there should be sufficient cycle lanes. Although I live just outside Cambridge and Cambridge is pretty good for cyclists. If this was me, I would ban cyclists from cycling through the city centre of Cambridge, because the amount of times I've nearly been run over by cyclists in the city centre is quite a lot. Dominic Wray: I will say. Not every cyclist is respectful of most receivers. It is a two way street, quite literally. Do you understand that? Kelly Molson: I like this. Right, okay, listeners, what do you think about the unpopular opinion? I feel like I've just got myself in hot water with all my Cambridge cycling friends as well. Dominic Wray: They're all going to be kicking off. Kelly Molson: We're all in trouble. We're in trouble together, Dom. It's fine. Right, tell us a little bit about your background, because you have come into attractions not from an attractions background, and I always find this quite fascinating, how people end up within the sector. You've come from banking, right? Dominic Wray: Yes, yes. I started off my career when I left school selling houses, and then I moved into banking after that. I used to work for Lloyds Bank and one of my clients was our current HR director here, lady called Paula, and I used to see her every year. She'd come in, talk about this great place that she worked and all these fun projects she was working on and how magical it was. And I remember sort of sat there thinking, "Gosh, your job sounds really interesting and you're working on these varied projects and you're getting to experience loads of cool things." She was talking to me about fireworks events and dinosaurs and cowboys and pirates. I was thinking, "I'm saya, talking about savings accounts and loans and boring stuff that comes to banking." Dominic Wray: And then one day I saw an advert in our local paper on the island for a Park Manager role for Blackgang Chine. Which is the park that Paula worked at, and I read through it and I thought, “Okay, yeah, I can do this. It sounds like I've got the skill set to do this.” Not really knowing anything about running a visitor attraction at all. So off I went to the interview, got my job and I thought, “Oh, great, yeah, if I can sell houses and I can run a bank, the only I could run a visitor attraction.” It's just taking those skills and applying them across into a different sector. Dominic Wray: Eight or nine years later, still here now and lot of a big learning curve along the way, but yeah, not a traditional route into it, but Blackgang on the island is a very iconic visitor attraction. All the children on the island have been there, had very fond memories of coming here as a child and I just thought, “Wow, what an opportunity to wake up every day and go to work in a fun”, magical place that's the complete opposite from the confines of a bank. So I thought, “Yeah, I'm going to back myself and go for it and do it.”Kelly Molson: How weird is that? Knowing that you went there as a child as well and now you actually run the place. That's massive, isn't it? Dominic Wray: Yeah, when I'm walking around, there's lots of areas of the park that are still the same and happened for many years and they carry great sentiments or walking through certain areas and they hear certain sounds or certain smells in the park and it takes you back to being a kid every day. So it's quite a magical place to work. Kelly Molson: That's really sweet. And so what was that transition like? Because I've just got this vision of you kind of like rocking up on the first day and going, "Where do I start?". Dominic Wray: Yeah. So on day one when I arrived, the gentleman who was doing the role beforehand had left. So I had a laptop set of keys and they sort, "Off you go.. And I was like, "OK, I've got to have to work this out", which I did. I was lucky enough to go to IAAPA in Orlando and I went on a week long training course, management course there around Park Management of Visitor Attractions, which I think was really interesting, really useful, gave me a great insight into the attraction space. And then I've worked through that by learning about the various different departments and functionalities of the business along the way. But it was a big change for me to go from working for a large corporate company to moving to a family owned company. Dominic Wray: Blackgang Chine has been owned by the same family for 180 years, which is the Dabell family. So it was a big shift for me from having multiple layers of people and it taking weeks to get a decision to just having to go and speak to one person as long as they say, "Yes", you're on your way. So it's enjoyable working for a much more dynamic organization where you can pivot more quickly. And that was sort of one of the surprising things, having come from a bigger company, how quickly things can move and change. But I think that's a real positive fallout. Kelly Molson: Yeah, definitely. I love that you did like a crash course, you did like your crash course, your driver's course, you didn't do those week intensive course, you did your weeks intensive course of being a park manager and that was it into the job. So what does your role cover then? Because I know you operate across two parks at the moment, so you've got Blackgang Chine, you've got Robin Hill. What does that look like for you in terms of your role? Dominic Wray: So my role sees me overseeing the parks and the strategic position. So I look after the business of the group as a whole. I was previously the park manager of Blackgang and then over the last twelve months transitioned to a new role, Parks Director, which sees me overseeing the group from more of a strategic position. So everything from opening calendars, pricing strategy, events that we're running, health and safety, you name it, all falls under my room within the business.Kelly Molson: I love that. I guess all of those things must have been the steep learning curve from banking where you clearly are very senior role, but probably not juggling quite so much in a day.Dominic Wray: Yeah, I liken it to running lots of micro businesses. We've got a retail business, food and beverage business and events business, health and safety compliance element of the business. So yeah, lots of micro businesses within the big business as a whole really. But yeah, the regulation from banking around strict processes and procedures does translate quite nicely into business and also into health for safety as well. Kelly Molson: Yeah. And there's some of the things we're going to talk about today. So we've got three topics to cover which I'm really interested in. We've got processes and systems, we've got peer learning that we're going to talk about and then we're going to talk about people and team development. So what you just said there about what you've brought, that's one of the things that I'm really interested in terms of the processes and systems because you've been through quite a transformative process in your organisation with kind of people and process actually. What have you been able to bring from banking into the attractions world that's kind of helped you with those processes and systems? Dominic Wray: I would say I learned a lot from working in a bank. One of the things was how not to do things, I'd say. In terms of life in a bank is very black and white. It's almost sort of a computer says no culture. And that really taught me that actually in real business you've got to operate a bit more in the gray. And it's much more around how can we actually make things happen and how can we do things rather than actually that's not possible. So I always say to feeling, great, well, how are we going to work around that? How are we going to make that possible? So, since I've joined the business, we've gone through quite a large transformation. Dominic Wray: It was fair to say that when I joined, the business was very much running in a sort of historic, family orientated way of we've always done it that way. That was a phrase I heard quite a lot when I first started this. I know we've done it like that because we've always done it that way. There's sort of a lot of, "Okay, explain to me why we've done it that way and what's the approach to that?". And then over the years, we've moved into using far more digital systems. So I'm big on making sure the team can see at the various levels of the organisation, the bigger picture. And I think that then helps them understand exactly what's going on in the business as a whole. And I think that through digital optimisation of systems and processes, that really helps them do that. Dominic Wray: So, for example, on the ride side of the fence, we bought in Mobaro, which is quite a well known safety system for our daily inspections. And that just gives far better visibility right the way from the ride operator, the person checking the rides, to the duty manager, all the way up to our owner if he wants to go in on a day and see what's gone on at 10:00 before the site opens. So it's really been around pivoting the organisation into becoming early adopters of technology and systems and processes. Dominic Wray: We've also recently joined the LEAP scheme, which was quite a big jump for our industry to move away from a historical scheme that had been in place for a number of years. And were some of the first, well, one of the first parks to join that scheme.Kelly Molson: For our listeners, what is the LEAP scheme? What does that mean? Dominic Wray: So we have our rides basically inspected by an independent inspection body. And LEAP is the scheme that then oversees and checks off the regulation of that inspection body in a sort of basic format. But it had historically been done by a different organisation and LEAP have come into the marketplace. And taken a different approach to how that is done, which gives far more transparency to the operators and also the customers that are coming into sites to visit as well. But it was quite a big thing for us to say, "Okay, we're going to move away from that historic way of doing it into a newer way of doing things.". But I think as a company, because we can make decisions quite quickly, we don't have a big gain of sign off to go through as a team. Dominic Wray: We can move quite quickly on things such as that as well. Kelly Molson: I really like that kind of transparent approach that you talked about because it feels like that would help with kind of unifying the kind of organisational culture as well because people have a bit more visibility about what's going on behind the scenes, so to speak. Dominic Wray: Yeah. And I think giving people the most amount of information you can give them within their job role and position within the organisation, that level of transparency just allows them to do their job better. Because if they understand what the key metrics that they're working towards and how they're performing and actually how decisions they make on a day to day basis impact the bigger picture of how the attraction performs over a 12, 24 month ongoing period, that makes them feel much more empowered. Because then they can see, actually, I've made this change over here, and that made an impact onto the bottom line over here. Kelly Molson: Yeah, absolutely. It gives people that sense of ownership about what they're doing as well, doesn't it? Dominic Wray: Definitely. Kelly Molson: So what do you think have been the biggest transformations that you've been able to make over that period? Dominic Wray: I would say collaborative working. The organisation used to very much be I look after food and beverage, I look after retail, I look after operations and we don't talk to each other. That's my lane. Kelly Molson: So those little micro companies just kind of like they worked in their little silos and didn't really talk. Dominic Wray: Yeah, exactly. Whereas what we've done across a number of years is change the structure of the way the parks run on a day to day basis. So each of the heads of those departments do take turns of doing duty management shifts. So that gives them the opportunity to experience the park as a complete 360, interact with different departments, understand how other departments work and function. Most importantly, that gets them in front of customers in different areas of the business as well, then that helps them understand, okay, in retail or operations, we're allowing people into the park in this way. If we do this is a domino effect that then actually knocks onto something that could happen in food and beverage later on. Dominic Wray: So I think again, that goes back to giving them that bigger picture of what's going on in the company and for them to think that actually we are all one team and what someone does in one department does have a knock on effect and impact onto other departments as well. And I think that's really taken place by opening the business up a lot more. Historically, were quite closed off as an organisation, and I've been very big on getting the staff out, seeing other attractions, going, speaking to other people in other attractions, finding out how things work in other parks, other businesses. Dominic Wray: And I think that's really then enabled us to open up a lot more and we've done that also through being members of BALPPA as well, which has been quite a key point of being able us to open up the business a lot more and experience the team, to experience things outside the company as well.Kelly Molson: Yeah. So peer learning is one of the things that I'd love to explore a bit more, because I think just going back to what you said about those organisational visits, you've got a few team members that are really active on LinkedIn, so I see a lot of the things that you do as an organisation, and it's really impressive. So you do strategic team visits to other attractions to look at how they're operating, how their attractions are running, what events. You even go to some of their events and see how they've been put on. And that comes back to this whole thing about the sector being really supportive and collaborative with each other, because that never used to happen in my world. In agency world, we are far more open now than we ever were. Kelly Molson: But I couldn't imagine ten years ago me rocking up to someone else's agency and going, "Could I just sit in on your team while you work through this project and see how your project management process works?". Piss off. I would be able to do that to a number of agencies that I know there. They'd be really happy to share, but it feels like it's kind of always been that way in the sector for attractions. Is that the case? Dominic Wray: Yeah, 100%. I mean, that was one of the biggest things that shocked me coming into a new career, was actually you can go and ask people for help and ask them how they do things and they're more than willing to share the challenges and issues that they have, but also sharing the solutions to those problems as well. I mean, when I worked at Lloyds, I can't imagine ever walking over the road to Natwest and going, "Hi, can you explain to me how you do this?". They'd say, “Bugger of.”Kelly Molson: You all will have exactly the same problem. So working together to solve that problem surely helps the greater good, rather than. Dominic Wray: Everyone has the same problems. They just have it on varying scales of economy, so we might have it on this scale. You go to a bigger park, they've got the same problem, just magnified by ten. Kelly Molson: Yeah, absolutely. But you mentioned BALPPA, which I know is an incredible organisation that you're members of. How has being kind of a member of that organisation what's it brought to the attraction and to yourself? Dominic Wray: I think it's really been transformational for the attraction, myself and the team. I think having an organisation that these business and individuals completely immerse themselves in from a learning standpoint is so valuable to me. I think it's almost like a black book. It is a black book of other attractions that you can gain access to for their knowledge, experience, processes and procedures. And as someone that came into the industry having not worked in it previous to that, I found the organisation so valuable in terms of my own personal learning and the learning of the site as well. So as an attraction, we've massively benefited from being members of BALPPA. We hosted the summer conference this year, which was a big deal for us. Dominic Wray: So everyone BALPPA came to the island and they spent a day at Blackgang Chine and Robin Hill, and we hosted a gala evening dinner at Robin Hill, which was fantastic. And that was great to show it off to peers and people within the industry and for them to kind of understand about what we do. Because obviously I go along to a lot of events with a lot of the other team and we're all sort of banging the drum about the company. But it's great for people to come and experience that firsthand as well. So I think it's helped broaden the profile of the business and also the individuals within the team as well. I think that's been brilliant for the team's personal development, but also really for their learning. Dominic Wray: The fact that there's people in the organisation that you can go and talk to about everything from ticketing strategies through to mechanical issues you've got on rides, or the fact that people are so open that you can ring them up and say, "Hey, I've got this issue with this, how do I fix it?"  I'll bring this chap, he's the person you need to go and call about this. Or, I'm a bit stuck for this spare part. Yeah, phone this person, they'll be able to get it to you quicker." And everyone's so supportive and willing to help each other. It's quite amazing to see, as I said, coming from a space where that is the complete opposite of that. It's brilliant to be involved in an organisation where if all the attractions are winning, the space is winning and the industry is winning. Dominic Wray: And I think everyone's mature enough to realise that we've all got our own individual niches and we're not all competing against each other. So actually, by helping each other and people having amazing experiences across all attractions, it just benefits the industry as a whole. Kelly Molson: Yeah, completely. It just comes back to that whole working in partnerships and not in silos again, doesn't it? You mentioned about people, this is the other thing that I really want to talk about, because you've got brilliant people that work at your organisation and you call them superstar people, which I really love. I guess BALPPA is one of the things that you've put in place to kind of help them because like you said, other team members, not just yourself, can go along to these meetings and they can benefit from the peer to peer learning that you get at those events. And actually just the networking, not even just I've been to a BALPPA event. And what struck me about it was the knowledge that was shared at that meeting. Kelly Molson: And what struck me about it was the knowledge that was shared at that meeting, it was so authentic and so transparent, actually, that you got a lot from just the talks, but actually you get even more from just networking from people that are in the same position as you, at a different attraction again, have those same kind of challenges and same kind of things that they need to talk about. And being able to just have them on speed dial is so beneficial. What else have you kind of put in place to help develop some of your superstar people there, though? Dominic Wray: So, as you mentioned, I think the team going along to BALPPA events has been a big thing for them. I think when you're doing your day to day job, you're running at 100 miles an hour, it's quite hard to sort of benchmark yourself against other people in the industry. And I've noticed that when team members have gone along to BALPPA events, they sort of come back with a sense of,” I could hold a conversation with someone from a bigger park. I'm competent at knowing what I'm doing”, which I know that they know that, but I think that helps reinforce confidence within them as well. And I just think they're fantastic spaces for developing the team's personal confidence and, as you said, their wider personal network as well, and knowledge and understanding. Dominic Wray: I mean, we've seen some of our team members, Laura, who's one of our superstars in our marketing team, she did a keynote speech on Christmas, at the BALPPA marketing conference. And it was so good. I was so proud to see her go there, deliver that, she'd been in the office working hard on it, and then just to stand up and absolutely smash it and see people's reactions to her explaining about that piece was just brilliant. And James, who oversees our site and services, he's due to do a talk on the install of our new rides at the latest BALPPA for Health and Safety Conference that's coming up as well. So I think it's brilliant for the team to be able to be on that platform and develop themselves as well. Dominic Wray: Other things that we do in an organisation as well. I think I'm really big on giving the team space to be able to do their job safely. I think it's good to allow them to give them the space to they're the experts in that area. I very much see my role is overseeing that and making sure all the pieces are coming together. But quite often I will say to them, "Guys, what do you think about this particular thing? Or how should we approach that?". Because ultimately, they're the experts within the business, within their chosen fields, and I'm big on giving them the opportunity to be the experts in those areas. I also think it's great to take some time out to learn more about them as individuals and their roles and their interests within those roles as well. Dominic Wray: So, for example, when Laura joined the business, went on a two day marketing course together. It was a conference that she wanted to attend, but I said, "I'll go with you. I'm keen to learn more about the in depth elements of marketing and I think it'd be a good shared experience for us.". And I think that then just enables the team to feel, actually I'm interested in their department and how they work and operate. And I think there's always something that you can learn from everyone that you meet and interact with. So I'm big on doing that. And then the final thing I'll say is really let them be a star in their area and promote that. Dominic Wray: I mean, the example of Laura with the marketing conference talk was brilliant. It was great to see her on stage representing the business, but also the spotlight was on her and it was about her in that moment, which was fantastic. And I think that's really good when the team feel like they can be superstars in their own arenas of their chosen fields. Kelly Molson: I love that. I remember that talk really vividly. It was really heartwarming, actually. And there was a really personal element to it as well. And you could see how much she was connected to the subject matter that she was speaking to as well. This is something that we talked about prior to coming on today, about how you've kind of supported your team as well as they kind of move through their careers and they move through what they're doing at the attractions. And one of the things that you've really helped them start to develop is their personal brands. Such a hot topic. It's one I love talking about. Kelly Molson: It's something that I've really tried to do as best as I can over the last kind of I think just prior to the pandemic, actually, I kind of started to think about what is it that I want people to remember me about, what's important to me? And if I've got a platform, how am I going to use it to talk about the things that I think are important and that other people should hopefully find as important as me. Kelly Molson: And I think what you've done there is kind of facilitate that for your team, which is really lovely to see because everybody, like you said, is working for the whole of the organisation, but they all have their own kind of individual specialisms. How have you kind of helped people or encouraged people to develop their personal brands? What are the kind of things that you've done there? Dominic Wray: I've encouraged them to get out there, engage with other people, engage within different networks. I think LinkedIn is a great tool for that as well. I think the team all do lots of amazing things every day that we all see and know that they do. But I'm big on encouraging them about, shouting about that. I think as general British people, we're quite sort of we don't like self promotion too much, don't like talking about ourselves too much. And I think having Laura, to be fair, join the team earlier in the year, who's big on her LinkedIn content and big on talking about what's going on out there, has really helped the team and pushed everyone forwards with doing that. And I've really encouraged them. Dominic Wray: You might not think anyone's going to take value from the content you're putting out or discussing that, but actually they will because there's probably someone somewhere looking at that thinking, "How do I overcome that problem?” Or “I've got a similar ride to that we're just in the process of refurbishing, maybe I can reach out to them and find out how they're doing that." So really believing in themselves and that they really are superstars in their area and they should be promoting that and talking about how great they are in the businesses that they work for. Kelly Molson: Have you seen that encouragement kind of help with some of the team's own self confidence as well? They're kind of braver about putting themselves forward for certain things. Dominic Wray: Yeah, yeah, massively. James, who oversees both of our sites from the site and services viewpoint, started off within the maintenance team one of those sites and he's worked his way up through the business. Now he's responsible for health and safety across both of them. He oversaw the install of our new ride which went in at the beginning of the year as well and it's been fantastic to see him grow and his confidence grow and develop within that. And now he's been asked to go forward, as I said, to do a talk next month about that ride install going ahead, which will be his first sort of public speaking gig, and I'll be very much there to support him along with that as well. So it's been great to watch the team develop and grow along with that and their confidence as well. Kelly Molson: That's really lovely to see. Well, I think in the past, people probably haven't wanted to highlight certain people, do you know what I mean? If we put these people out in the world, other people might steal them from us. But I think you have to develop your people and you have to let them shine in the roles that they're in because they'll just get better and better and better. So it's really lovely to see that you're encouraging that. I think it's such an important part of running a successful organisation now.Dominic Wray: Yeah. And I think the team are happier from that. I think if you give them the freedom to go out and experience other attractions and speak to other people at various different levels of organisations, they feel happier where they are. I think if you kind of constrain them and say, "Oh no, we can't allow you to go and speak to these people. We can't allow you to go and visit them because they might poach you or they might offer you a different job." Then they're going to be thinking, "Actually, maybe the grass is greener on the other side.". Kelly Molson: This is not the company for me after all. Dominic Wray: Yeah, exactly. And I think there's nothing wrong with them being having their own personal brand within the wider brand of the business. I think that's good for them. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I think so too. It's really brilliant to see what you've been developing there. Right. I would love it if you could share some top tips for our listeners. We always get our guests to share top tips. Three top tips on processes and people development that you'd encourage other attractions to adopt. Dominic Wray: My first one would definitely be, and I've already mentioned it, but get your team out visiting other attractions. Can't express enough how much they'll learn from those experiences. I think if you set it out in the right position to say, "Okay, guys, we're going to go and visit this event, this is what we're going to be looking for. This is what I want us to take back from that. When we come back, we're going to have a clear debrief to go through key learnings of that and how we're going to implement that into our business. You can still obviously have a great enjoyable experience."Dominic Wray: That's one of the best things about working in this industry is going on an R & D trip, but getting to go on a couple of roller coasters and get scared, go to the scare mazes or whatever else you're going to be doing. I think it's great team building as well. It's great for the team to go and see that. And what I find amazing is it can be anything from the way a site manages its waste or the layout of a queue line or actually I liked on the way in how this person upselled this ticket for me. There's so many things you can gain from that. Dominic Wray: I think when you're going into an attraction, looking at that from that perspective, I just think it's brilliant and there's no kind of training course that you can send anyone on that will deliver that value that they get from going and experiencing it firsthand. Kelly Molson: I'm just laughing at the excitement about waste as well like, "Yeah, we could see how they process their waste." That is exciting. Dominic Wray: That would be something that James would probably come back to say to me. But that's what I mean. Everyone of the team's interested in different things, so it's good. Kelly Molson: On this topic of the visits, do you always go to places that are quite similar to yours as well? Or do you do visits that are in complete contrast to what you do as well? To see the difference. Dominic Wray: We'll do a bit of both. Probably a good example is when we set up our Halloween event over October, when we very first did that, went to visit Tully's Farm, which was sort of, in our eyes, as the gold standard of scare attractions. The first time went there, we just went to see what is it as an attraction? How does that concept work? The overview sort of headline of that. And then over the years, as we've developed Terror Island, which is our Halloween event, which we run here, over October, we've been back to Tully's on numerous occasions. We've had Stuart, who runs that, come down to the site as well, and we're then looking at that from a different perspective. Dominic Wray: So then we moved on to, "Okay, how do we look at improving through, how do we look at improving guest experience? How do we look at upselling F&B? Where are the entrance and exit points of the mazes in relation to the broader site? How's the actual site laid out?". So we're then going back and looking at it in a sort of more detailed layer of that. But no, as a team, we'll go to much larger parks, much smaller parks, because I think there's things you can learn from all different sizes of attractions. We went to Hobbledown last year, which was an interesting experience, and we saw their water pillow there, and we actually put one of those into Robin Hill this year, which was one of our most successful attractions. Dominic Wray: So the guys there were fantastic at explaining about the pros and cons of that attraction, which then enabled us to make an informed decision as to whether to purchase one of those or not. But, yeah, I think there's things to be learned from all different types of attractions. If people are going to them with the right mindset of thinking, “What am I going to learn?”Kelly Molson: What's the objective here? What's the takeaway? Okay, great. So that's top tip one. Dominic Wray: Top tip two would be celebrate personal wins for the team and then let them be stars in that moment. I think when someone in the team does something really well and they've achieved something, it's really important to broadcast that to everyone, let everyone know about that and let them shine in that moment. And for it to be about them as an individual, not so much about the company as a whole. It's them in that moment, and you want to make them feel valued and positive about whatever the experiences that they've achieved. Kelly Molson: Nice. Good tip. Dominic Wray: And then my third one would be let people make mistakes in a safe manner and learn from it. I think in a working environment, people are quite often aware when they've made a mistake or something's gone wrong. They don't leave someone jumping up and down. Yeah, exactly. You know, when you're like, "That didn't work. I know it's not worked well," but I think allowing them to make mistakes in a safe, controlled manner that they can then learn from, because I think quality people understand when something's gone wrong, and they equally understand how to fix it and put their hands up and say, yeah, that's happened. But we're quite quick to acknowledge that and move on to how we're going to resolve it and not allow that to occur again. Kelly Molson: Excellent tips. Okay, as an organisation, what's your biggest opportunity and also your biggest challenge as we head into the winter months? Because I think you're coming to do you close over the season? Do you close down? Dominic Wray: Yes. So Saturday is our last operating day, and we close from November and we open in March. Kelly Molson: Wow. Gosh, you really are coming up to the end of the season. Okay, so what's your biggest opportunity and your biggest challenge as we head into that time? Dominic Wray: It was quite a big challenge, and opportunity for the company is that we made a difficult decision to put one of our sites on the market and we're looking to sell Robin Hill. So that will be the biggest challenge and opportunity for the business in recent years, to be fair. I think it presents a great opportunity for the business to double down and invest further into Blackgang, which is 180 years old this year. So it's a big birthday year for us. Kelly Molson: Incredible. Dominic Wray: And I think that will enable us to be here for another 180 years. Not that I might still be around at that point in time. Kelly Molson: You certainly won't look like Mark Wright at that point. Dominic Wray: No, look like a very aged Mark Wright. But I think it's the biggest challenge for the team and myself personally as we reshape the business and pivot into a new direction, but I equally think it's an exciting one to see what will come out on the other side of that as well. Kelly Molson: It is exciting, isn't it? I can imagine that having two parks to oversee can be a stretch at sometimes in terms of resource and also in terms of strategy and how things work, because I guess that they work similar but different. So, yeah, I can see that as a huge opportunity and something to I guess it's kind of a nice thing to focus on for the start of the new season as well, that's kind of progressing. And then you've got this really big opportunity to focus on this one thing and make it as the very best it could possibly be. Dominic Wray: Yeah. And the team have really taken to it. They're really passionate about driving Blackgang forwards and are very excited about the changes and the plans we've got for the next year and coming years as well. So it's been well embraced by them. Kelly Molson: Good. And I guess you're ending the season on a high as well, because we talked a little bit about your Halloween event, but it has been a really successful Halloween event this year, hasn't it? Dominic Wray: Yes, it's gone down really well. We made the sun top ten events for Halloween attractions. So yeah, it's been really well received. It's a personal favourite of mine. Absolutely love it. It's been a complete passion project for the team, and the team are always up for every event we do, but this is one that they really get behind and are in every possible conceivable bit of detail. And as someone that never used to like horror films and hated being scared, I now absolutely love going through scare attractions and love scaring other people even more than that. Complete 360 for me as well. So you don't know what you like until you try it. Kelly Molson: Exactly. You just never know where you never knew where this role was going to take you, did you? When you started this, Dominic, you never knew you were going to end up as a horror fan. Dominic Wray: Yeah, exactly. Now I'm like, "Oh no, we need to make that person over there look more dead. Or how loud we need the chainsaw louder, or that guy doesn't look scary enough." Way more interesting than ices and loans. Kelly Molson: I love it. A massive learning curve and 180 years old. I mean, that is a phenomenal achievement. There can't be many other attractions that are coming up for that age. So this is really incredible. I think you've had a really brilliant year. Can't do this podcast without talking about Radio One as well because I've been aware of Blackgang Chine for quite a while, but I think it maybe isn't on the radar of many people because it's Isle of Wight, it's not on the mainland. But I was driving back from the gym one morning and I listened to Radio One. Kelly Molson: I listened to the Greg James breakfast show on Radio One in the mornings and they were doing this thing where they had to find one of the presenters and all the presenters were hidden up and down all over the country, and they were talking about the Isle of Wight and they kept saying, Blackgang Chine. And I was like, they're talking about Blackgang Chine. Let Laura know. I need to pull over and let Laura know. Obviously she already knew that you were being talked about, but I think how many times did he say Blackgang Chine? It was a lot. Dominic Wray: It was a lot. I think it was over 50 times. I mean, my phone was going mental, mate. If you've got the presenters because it's because we have an area called Area Five with large animatronic dinosaurs, and they thought we'd hidden them down there and they were like, "God, you're really good at keeping a secret. I can't believe you haven't told us this.". And I'm like, "No, honestly, they're not here.". I don't want to actually believe me. Well, clearly no one did. Kept ringing up Radio One to talk about it, but that was a great bit of brand profile for the business and I guess sort of showed that people were associating the element of dinosaurs to the park as well. So that's obviously positive for us. Kelly Molson: It was really good press, even if we didn't have the presenter there. It was absolutely brilliant. Dominic Wray: Yeah, it was fantastic. And then everyone was almost like, they should have been here. Kelly Molson: They should have been here. We should, we need to get Greg James back over, don't you? I mean, he said it enough, so you should get him there for a visit soon. Dominic Wray: Greg, if you're listening, come down. Kelly Molson: I mean, I'd love it if Greg listened to this podcast, but it's highly unlikely. But if you are, Greg, would you like to come on? I'd love a chat with you. I'm just around the corner of Bishop Stortford. That's where you were born, right? We could be friends. Dom, thank you for coming on the podcast. It's been brilliant to chat today. We always end the interview by asking our guests to share a book that they'd like to share with their listeners. So something that you love can be work related or it can be personal, whatever you fancy. Dominic Wray: Well, I was going to think about saying the Highway Code so people can understand how to overtake cyclists, really, but I won't. My favourite podcast at the moment is a podcast called the Big Fish that's presented by Spencer Matthews. Kelly Molson: What? Hang on. Dominic Wray: Oh, sorry, my second favourite. My second well, obviously ones that I listen to after yours. Kelly Molson: Thank you. Well recovered. Dominic Wray: Once I've listened to the latest episode, I move on to Big Fish after that. Kelly Molson: Sorry, say it again. Big Fish. Who's it by? Dominic Wray: Big Fish by Spencer Matthews, who used to be on Made in Chelsea, I think, and now owns a company called CleanCo, which is a non alcoholic brand, which is quite interesting. But I like it because he interviews lots of CEOs and business owners. It's got a bit of a sports mindset focus to it, but it's also very much around the culture in those businesses, how they've built the businesses and the challenges they face within them as well. So it's quite an interesting one. Kelly Molson: I like the sounds of that. I listen to quite a lot of podcasts like that. All right, I'm going to put Big Fish on my list. Well, there you go, listeners. You can't win a copy of this podcast because I can't give it away, but I encourage you to go and have a little listen. Maybe it'll be your number two podcast as well, who knows? Dom, thanks for coming on today. It's been lovely to have you. Congratulations on 180 years and best of luck with everything that comes next. I think you've got a really exciting new chapter that's about to start and maybe you'll come back on in a year or so and tell us how it's all gone. Dominic Wray: Yeah, sounds good. Thank you very much for having me enjoyed it. Kelly Molson:  Thanks for listening to Skip The Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

I'd find it difficult to admit I'm burnt out. But reading the list of commons signs of burnout made me reflect on whether it's something I've experienced when building CleanCo. This episode is all about stress and burnout; what's the difference and simple ways you can reduce your stress.In this episode:1'00 - What is burnout?4'00 - Why is it difficult to admit you're burnt out?8'00 - How does stress manifest in different people?10'00 - Ways to manage stress11'00 - Why I now do Wim Hoff's breathing method19'00 - Free ways to reduce stress if you're short of time

At a time when marketing has infiltrated our physical and virtual worlds, how should we think about it? Is it just advertising in different clothing or can it reveal deeper insights into our psychology and social interactions? In this week's podcast, we discuss marketing with special guest David Folkman, who has had a 20-year career in marketing and entrepreneurialism. We discuss the impact of technology, the psychology of advertisers, advertising models, Tinder, canned water, AI, creativity and the future. Finally, we ask David about his biggest marketing disasters and industry takeaways. David has a long career working for consumer brands including Mars, Nestle, and Innocent Drinks, and co-founded a number of food and drink businesses including CleanCo and Cheesies. He has also advised numerous companies on sales and marketing strategy. His new website is coming soon and can be found at www.davidfolkman.com For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

In the final episode of season two, it's a family affair at DISH HQ with Spencer, Vogue and baby Otto. Angela and Nick host two stars that risked life and limb on reality tv. Now married, these two entrepreneurs have three kids and several podcasts between them: Spencer & Vogue, My Therapist Ghosted Me and 6 Degrees with Jamie and Spencer. Vogue also has her own fake tan range, Bare by Vogue while Spencer has his own low ABV spirits company, CleanCo, available at Waitrose. Angela cooks some lamb to perfection and makes some tasty cheesy hasselback potatoes, a recipe devised by Waitrose in conjunction with Zaina, 19, as part of the Create not Hate programme*. Spencer and Vogue talk about parenting, their pet peeves and, to satisfy their competitive nature, Nick treats the couple (and us) to a game of Mr. & Mrs.! *Create Not Hate has partnered with Waitrose and John Lewis to continue with their mission to improve access to the creative industry for young people from a range of diverse backgrounds, who may not have considered a career in the industry or could use support to get started with their career. Nick and Angela will be back in early April with brand new episodes of DISH. Please keep your dilemmas coming to dish@waitrose.co.uk and Angela will try and answer them on season three. Just so you know, our podcast might contain the occasional mild swear word or adult theme. All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish Dish is a Somethin:Else Creative Studio production for Waitrose & Partners.

Hungover leaders waste time, productivity, and performance.It's no secret that you're not at your best when you've had a late night. If you're like most people, then you've had at least one experience where you've had to lead a meeting while being hungover. Your meeting, team, and customers suffer. When this happens regularly, you can damage your reputation and results.Being hungover is bad for leaders and teams because you can never really make up for lost time and productivity.I host Billy Paretti, CEO at CleanCo, who shares how to approach business dinners and events in a healthier way.He's a marketing and brand management executive for luxury and premium brands having served as Chief Marketing Officer of Belvedere Vodka at Moët Hennessy, LVMH, David Yurman, and Prada.CleanCo is a non-alcoholic spirits company. CleanCo says that that the average person spends 252 hours a year hungover and their mission is to help customers get that time back.LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/billyparetti/Company Link: https://clean.co/What You'll Discover in this Episode:The reality TV star who founded the company based on a moment at a Royal party.Why clean cocktails are helpful for business leaders.His favorite “clean” cocktail.The importance of having leadership agility.When to stick to your vision and when to flex.A time Billy had an unexpected twist in his career and how it helped accelerate his career.-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Channel 4 TV star and successful entrepreneur Spencer Matthews opens up about the tragic death of his brother, Michael, the youngest Brit to summit Everest, and the love and memories he felt as a child. Spencer travelled with Bear Grylls to recover his brother's body, the subject of a Netflix/ Disney + documentary coming soon, and talks about the impact his dad had on his ambition as a kid. Spencer now runs a successful low-alcohol spirits company, CleanCo - and spills the secrets of his success in business in this episode of My Mum Made Me.

This week on Spencer & Vogue, Vogue is back on home soil and Spen is over in Oregon eating delish omelettes and spreading the Cleanco word. We're chatting heavy luggage, skydiving, confessing to evil things, Vogue discovers that bodies liquify and we're treated to a Spen-o-logue. Remember, if you want to get involved you can:Email us at Spencerandvoguepod@gmail.com OR find us on socials @voguewilliams @spencermatthews AND @spencer_and_vogueListen and subscribe to Spencer and Vogue on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey listener. We have a podcast we think you might like...It's called Big Fish with our very own, Spencer Matthews.Each week he'll be speaking to leading CEOs, inspiring entrepreneurs, incredible designers and other famous faces to find out what it takes to overcome life's obstacles and be the best at what they do."For years I was trapped in a cycle of excessive drinking. I became subdued, a half-version of myself and began to realise the damage alcohol was doing to my relationships and career. In 2019, I became sober. It was the best decision I'd ever made and inspired me to start my own business. CleanCo is now the largest independent non-alcoholic brand in the UK"Episode 1 with Ant Middleton and Episode 2 with DJ Fat Tony available now. Listen and subscribe on Global Player.

Hey listener. We have a podcast we think you might like called Big Fish.. In this brand new podcast, entrepreneur and TV personality Spencer Matthews will be speaking to leading CEOs, inspiring entrepreneurs, incredible designers and other famous faces to find out what it takes to overcome life's obstacles and be the best at what they do. "For years I was trapped in a cycle of excessive drinking. I became subdued, a half-version of myself and began to realise the damage alcohol was doing to my relationships and career. In 2019, I became sober. It's the best decision I've ever made and inspired me to start my own business. CleanCo is now the largest independent non-alcoholic brand in the UK. Building a business has been the most challenging thing I've ever done and I've become fascinated by how other people have developed a mindset for success" Listen now and subscribe on Global Player.

The gang are in St Barts and had a few tech issues this week, so apologies for the sound quality for this bonus. We're chatting peeing in the sink, Gigi's reluctance for Halloween, Cleanco for nursing homes, gym vs birth and who's the better singer.Remember, if you want to get involved you can:Email us at Spencerandvoguepod@gmail.com OR find us on socials @voguewilliams @spencermatthews and the new @spencer_and_vogueListen and subscribe to Spencer and Vogue on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.

For years I was trapped in a cycle of excessive drinking. I became subdued, a half-version of myself and began to realise the damage alcohol was doing to my relationships and career. In 2019, I became sober. It's the best decision I've ever made and inspired me to start my own business. CleanCo is now the largest independent non-alcoholic brand in the UK. Building a business has been the most challenging thing I've ever done and I've become fascinated by how other people have developed a mindset for success. Each week I'll be speaking to leading CEOs, inspiring entrepreneurs, incredible designers and other famous faces to find out what it takes to overcome life's obstacles and be the best at what they do.

Spencer George Matthews is a British entrepreneur, television personality, and former London broker, well-known in the UK for his appearance on the reality show, Made in Chelsea. He's also the brother-in-law of Pippa Middleton. And the founder of a clean drinking company, CleanCo.Spencer lived in a cycle of drinking in his twenties - even finding himself in a career where client entertainment and partying were part of the package. I can relate! Before the birth of his first child, he gave up drinking, which led to so many incredible things happening in his life! If you're sober curious, or someone you know is, you will LOVE this episode. And be sure to check out his chic, clean drinks line at drinkclean.com.And if you like this episode, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy this episode! This helps to get the message out to more people just like you. And be sure to click the "Follow" button to get notified of updates. Also, I'm hosting a free workshop to show you how to coach yourself through life's challenges. Check it out here. 

What was started as a side business after Jake was let go from his employer, quickly became something more than just a way to feed his family, but a way to provide for his family and the team that would later come. With a background of logistics from the United States Army Reserves, and in economics and entrepreneurship, Curb Appeal started growing from a seasonal business to a year around opportunity. Our unique strategy for hiring and training was to help young entrepreneurs in home services by showing them hands on training on customers service, operations, and business principles to run their own future business while paying them an above average pay for their immediate needs. Some of those early employees later became a CPA, Graphic designer, an Attorney, 4 Washburn University graduates, and one to start and operate a full-time window cleaning business called CleanCo. Time Stamps :

Spencer Matthews, Founder and CEO of CleanCo Podcast supremo, entrepreneur and television personality, Spencer Matthews, joins Louise Duffy to discuss family life, career trajectory, his very important ties to Ireland and what led to the creation of his new brand CleanCo.

Racheal catches up with Spencer Matthews from CleanCo to talk all things alcohol-free. They talk about the power of iteration, how to raise big sums of money and cracking that all-important first listing.

This week on the Andy Jaye podcast, Andy has an open and honest conversation with the very charming, Spencer Matthews.From the high levels of drama, being pitted as 'the handsome bad boy' in the show, Made In Chelsea, to a thoughtful and prominent business leader and family man. Spencer discusses the transition from his early showbiz days, the impact of social media, and why he made the decision to step away from the reality TV show. 'A man transformed'; successful entrepreneur, Spencer, explains the thought behind his new exciting business, CleanCo, he shares the reasons behind his lifestyle changes and also discusses fatherhood and married life. A blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a man who has mastered the Marathon des Sables for an amazing cause, Spencer also speaks to Andy about the heartbreaking loss of his brother. The Andy Jaye Podcast is produced by The Driven Media Group - a Paramex Digital brand. Contact the show, email hello@drivenchat.com. Find our entire back catalogue of conversations in all the usual podcast places. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Spencer Matthews is a British entrepreneur and founder of the premium no-and-low (No/Low) adult beverage company, CleanCo. With a desire to moderate his alcohol intake in 2018, Matthews discovered there were no options in the market that could match the taste and mouthfeel of full-strength spirits in a mixed drink. For many years, there had been two main options - full-strength alcohol or soft drinks - and little in-between. He discovered that a great tasting like-for-like alternative simply didn't exist. This was the catalyst that spurred him to found CleanCo and create a product that filled the gap in the market for a comparable and enjoyable experience to real spirits. CleanCo launched in the UK in late 2019 with gin alternative Clean G, followed by rum replacement Clean R in May 2020. Offering finely crafted alternatives to some of our favourite tipples, the CleanCo range offers award winning Clean G, Clean R and Clean G Rhubarb. Furthermore, vodka replacement; Clean V Spiced Apple Spirit was introduced in March 2021 - shortly followed by a non-alcoholic Tequila replacement; Clean T, in May 2021. The range also includes Individual cans of ready mixed Clean G & Tonic and Clean Cuba Libre at ABV 0.5%. Matthew's aim from the beginning was to give cocktail lovers a choice. A choice that will empower consumers to find a balance in order to live life to its full potential. By drinking ‘clean' during the week, or by interspersing your favourite full-strength cocktail with a Clean replacement when socializing, you can moderate your alcohol intake without feeling like you are missing out. Finding there was an insatiable thirst for moderation among cocktail drinkers, and with ambitions to become the biggest player in the No/Low sector globally, CleanCo initially secured £2.1 million before raising a further £7m from backers including Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox and board member of Uber, as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners. Providing consumers with an alternative to traditional cocktails, CleanCo has cultivated a loyal ‘sober-curious' following since its inception in 2019. CleanCo made its debut in the US market in September 2021, entering with Clean T, a Tequila alternative. Spurred by the seismic surge in demand for quality alcohol-free alternatives and inspired by the accelerating Tequila category in the United States - Clean T offers an agave forward take on Tequila Blanco. Complementing Clean T, will be an array of No/Low spirit alternatives, Clean G (Gin), Clean R (Dark Rum), and Clean V Spiced Apple (Flavoured Vodka). Follow BITB on Twitter and Instagram.

It's a Dry January review! This mini episode features Sinead's top buys and recommendations for alcohol-free drinks following her vigorous testing this month. Brands include Lyres, EDI, CleanCo, Crossip and some honourable mentions for Beavertown and Brooklyn Brewery. We'd like to do more of these episodes each month on different drinks, or any subjects you would like us to consider, so feel free to comment with suggestions! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Le Figaro, Quand les animalistes veulent faire la peau au foie gras, 09/12/2021Quatre grandes villes ont déjà retiré le foie gras au menu de leurs réceptions sous la pression d'associations animalistes au premier rang desquels Peta.Dans un courrier envoyé à la mairie de Strasbourg, Peta écrit ainsi “en raison de la production importante de foie gras en Alsace, et de l'imminence de ses célèbres marchés de Noël – où des stands en font justement la promotion – un engagement officiel de votre part aurait un très fort impact! Ainsi, pourriez-vous mettre en place une politique interdisant de servir du foie gras dans vos locaux et lors des repas officiels offerts par la municipalité strasbourgeoise à diverses occasions?”. Peta a ainsi écrit un courrier similaire à une vingtaine de maires de grandes villes.Comme alternative au foie gras, les associations animalistes proposent de déguster du “faux gras”, qui est fabriqué à partir de tofu, champignon, levure et huile végétale.Si certains maires ont entendu le message de Peta et ont pris des décisions radicales (comme la maire de Strasbourg par exemple) il semble que les Français soient encore loin de passer au “faux gras”. D'après un sondage CSA pour le CIFOG publié récemment, 91% des personnes interrogées déclarent manger du foie gras et 75% ont l'intention de consommer du foie gras pour les fêtes cette année, soit 2 points de plus que l'an dernier.Par ailleurs, 14 associations, représentant plusieurs dizaines de milliers de chefs à travers tous les territoires de France et à l'international, se sont d'ores-et-déjà engagés auprès de la filière française du Foie Gras en signant le manifeste de soutien à la filière française du foie gras et un hashtag #TouchePasMonFoieGras a été lancé pour l'occasion. Les Échos, Les deux géants du foie gras Maïsadour et Euralis se rapprochent, 08/12/2021Alors que la filière foie gras a souffert ces dernières années suite à la multiplication des épidémies d'influenza aviaire, les deux leaders du secteur, les groupes coopératifs Euralis et Maisadour, réfléchissent à fusionner leurs pôles spécialisés dans le canard à foie gras. Les deux groupes représentent environ 45% de la production française de foie gras avec une production de 13 millions de canards gras chaque année. Les deux groupes ont également des marques fortes dans ce secteur : Delpeyrat et Comtesse du Barry (Maisadour) et Rougié et Maison Montfort (Euralis).L'article explique que la production de foie gras a quadruplé depuis le début des années 90 et que la filière souffre désormais de surproduction.Ils doivent toutefois obtenir l'aval des autorités de la concurrence pour un plan qui pourrait déboucher sur des restructurations Le Monde, La puissance politique du sucre, entre délices et dominations, 24/12/2021Un article très complet sur l'histoire du sucre et ses liens avec le capitalisme, la mondialisation, l'esclavagisme et la politique.Quelques chiffres pour commencer : entre le début du confinement et la fin du mois de mai 2020, les ventes de sucre ont augmenté de 30 % en France. Si la peur de la pénurie a probablement joué un rôle comme pour certains autres produits, une enquête réalisée par le Centre des sciences du goût et de l'alimentation a montré que cette période a favorisé le « manger émotionnel ».Comme le résume bien l'article, “le sucre raconte, à sa façon, la part intime de l'histoire des hommes et des femmes, de leurs joies et de leurs détresses, de leurs peurs et de leurs espoirs”. Mais surtout, “il est aussi, aux côtés des céréales, l'un des produits qui, à travers les siècles, décrit le mieux l'histoire des peuples, la violence des empires et la naissance d'une mondialisation dont il est un acteur central”. Le sucre a pendant longtemps été un “marqueur de distinction sociale et de richesse” et était réservé aux élites. Il est en effet source de plaisir et le goût sucré est devenu très tôt un marqueur social de pouvoir et un enjeu politico-religieux. Mais désormais il est présent dans tous les placards. A tel point que, depuis quarante ans, la recherche en sciences sociales s'interroge sur la raison pour laquelle “cet ingrédient jugé non essentiel aux besoins alimentaires cristallise autant les passions, au point de modeler les paysages et de peser sur les politiques publiques”.L'article propose ainsi un historique politique du sucre permettant de mieux comprendre l'ambivalence de nos comportements à son égard et d'éclairer l'origine des rapports de force dont il fait aujourd'hui l'objet.  Le Monde, Des ventes record pour les maisons de champagne, 10/12/20212020 a été une des pires années pour la filière champagne avec “des pertes de 20 % en moyenne par rapport à 2019” et, début 2021, le Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne pensait qu'il faudrait plusieurs années au secteur pour s'en remettre. Et bien contre toute attente 2021 s'annonce comme une année record.C'est ce que confirme Fabrice Rosset, PDG des champagnes Deutz, qui explique “en près de cinquante ans de métier, je n'ai jamais vécu une période semblable !”. Les conséquences sont visibles : ruptures de stock un peu partout dans les grandes marques, demandes de pays étrangers qui ne sont pas satisfaites, tensions sur le marché, des cavistes français qui ne reçoivent pas la marchandise qu'ils ont commandée… Cela se traduit évidemment au niveau des chiffres. Pour Deutz, c'est une hausse de 80 % des ventes pour la cuvée classique et de 40 % pour la cuvée prestige. Et au niveau de l'entreprise, comme le précise le PDG,“+ 35 % au global par rapport à 2019, qui était notre année record. En chiffre d'affaires global, par rapport à 2020, alors que la réouverture des frontières n'est pas totale et, même si tous les indicateurs ne sont pas au beau fixe, nous dépassons les 60 %”.Parmi les explications avancées sur les performances exceptionnelles de cette année : la consommation mondiale de 2020 aurait été supérieure aux expéditions des maisons de champagne. En d'autres termes, les grossistes, importateurs et cavistes ont vendu leurs bouteilles et laissé leurs stocks baisser. Ils ne les auraient reconstitués qu'en 2021. Autre explication : l'explosion du e-commerce, en France mais surtout à l'étranger où les ventes en ligne ont été multipliées par quatre dans certains pays. Enfin les habitudes des consommateurs dans certains pays ont évolué. C'est ce qu'explique Quentin Meurisse, directeur marketing pour les maisons Mumm et Perrier-Jouët, “Aux Etats-Unis, la cuvée Mumm “Grand Cordon ” est habituellement bue au restaurant. Pour la première fois, à cause des confinements, les Américains l'ont commandée en ligne et consommée à la maison. Quand les restaurants ont rouvert, ils y ont à nouveau acheté nos bouteilles mais ils ont aussi continué à en boire chez eux”. CNBC, People are paying top dollar for cocktails with no alcohol in them, 09/12/2021En 2020, l'industrie des boissons sans alcool a connu une croissance fulgurante, les consommateurs délaissant les soirées arrosées pour privilégier leur santé et leur bien-être. Alors que certaines personnes réduisent complètement leur consommation, d'autres optent pour des boissons qui ont le même goût que leurs boissons préférées, mais sans alcool.Mais la plupart des consommateurs de ces boissons n'abandonnent cependant pas l'alcool pour de bon. Selon une étude réalisé par IWSR, 58 % des consommateurs de boissons sans alcool ou à faible teneur en alcool continuent de boire de l'alcool, mais avec modération.Aux Etats-Unis, selon des données de NielsenIQ, les ventes de boissons non alcoolisées ont augmenté de 33,2 % en 2020, pour atteindre 331 millions de dollars. Les ventes de bière et de cidre non alcoolisés ont augmenté de 31,7 %, mais surtout les ventes de spiritueux non alcoolisés ont augmenté de 113,4 % au cours de la même période.Parmi les sociétés proposant des spiritueux sans alcool, l'article cite la société CleanCo. L'article parle également de Lyre's, une start-up fondée en 2019 et qui vient de boucler une levée de fonds de 20 millions de livres en novembre. L'entreprise est désormais évaluée à 270 millions de livres. New York Times, How Will Americans Eat in 2022? The Food Forecasters Speak, 28/12/2021Comme à chaque début d'année, chacun s'adonne à l'exercice des prévisions. Le New York Times en proposent certaines récoltées auprès d'experts du secteur. Pour cette année, comme le résume bien Anna Fabrega, qui a récemment pris la direction du service d'abonnement aux repas Freshly, “la contrainte engendre l'innovation”.Selon elle et d'autres experts de l'industrie alimentaire aux États-Unis, 2022 sera de nouveau une année pragmatique façonnée par les besoins des personnes qui travaillent à domicile et par la génération Z, culinairement astucieuse mais capricieuse, dont les membres veulent des aliments contenant des ingrédients durables et une histoire culturelle forte, préparés sans exploitation et livrés de manière neutre en carbone dans les 30 minutes.Voici les prédictions mentionnées dans l'article :Ingrédient de l'année : les champignons figurent sur de nombreuses listes de prédictions, sous presque toutes les formes, des champignons psilocybines (suite au regain d'intérêt pour les substances psychédéliques) aux pleurotes qui sont utilisées comme substituts végétaux aux coquilles Saint-Jacques.Boisson de l'année : les boissons des années 1980 (Tequila Sunrise, les Long Island Iced Tea…) reviennent en force remaniés avec des jus frais, moins de sucre et des alcools de meilleure qualité. Autre tendance : l'essor des “éco spiritueux”, fabriqués à partir d'ingrédients provenant de fermes locales ou de déchets alimentaires et emballés et expédiés selon des méthodes respectueuses du climat.La viande de poulet cultivée en laboratoire : les poulets à base de plantes proposés par des entreprises comme Impossible Foods et Beyond Meat sont arrivés récemment dans les épiceries et les restaurants.Les algues à la rescousse : le varech pousse rapidement, présente un profil nutritionnel intéressant et élimine le dioxyde de carbone de l'atmosphère et l'azote de l'océan. En conséquence, le varech d'élevage va dépasser le stade du dashi et des menus de certains restaurants haut de gamme pour se retrouver dans des aliments de tous les jours comme les pâtes.Nostalgie des bonbons : les nostalgies d'enfance de la Chine (le bonbon White Rabbit et les flocons de grésil) et de la Corée du Sud (la friandise en forme de nid d'abeille ppopgi et les pailles Apollo) feront leur chemin dans les caddies et les recettes de desserts et de boissons des Américains.La montée en puissance du robusta : face à l'envolée des prix de l'arabica, le robusta, qui est moins cher et plus facile à cultiver, va revenir en force. On le trouve notamment au Vietnam et en conséquence un nouveau style de café vietnamien est en train d'apparaître dans de nombreuses villes américaines.Une vaisselle savoureuse : la qualité des cuillères, baguettes, assiettes, bols et tasses comestibles augmente et leur prix diminue, ce qui marque le début d'une véritable révolution des emballages comestibles.La saveur de l'année : l'hibiscus, qui ajoute sa teinte cramoisie et sa saveur acidulée et terreuse à tout, des cocktails aux sodas en passant par les crudités et les yaourts.L'Inde en point de mire : les aliments régionaux de l'Inde feront l'objet d'une grande attention, avec des plongées approfondies dans les plats du Gujarat, du Kerala, du Cachemire, du Tamil Nadu et de la région d'Awadh.L'ambiance de l'année : un intérêt croissant pour la nature historique et culturelle de la nourriture et son impact sur le climat ne fera qu'ajouter à ce que les prévisionnistes disent être un nouvel accent sur la gentillesse et la compréhension.Au-delà des grandes tendances, l'article met en avant certaines autres tendances naissantes : le bacon Koji, l'alcool chinois baijiu, la soupe de nouilles laksa, le riz jollof, les graines prendront le pas sur les noix en tant que source alternative de protéines, un regain d'intérêt pour les fromages sans lait provenant d'un animal, le lait de pomme de terre, le moringa, les plats de petit-déjeuner taïwanais, le thé et les olives.  Pour vous abonner à la newsletter Eat's Businesshttps://businessofbouffe.com/revue-de-presse-eats-business-newsletter

In this week's episode, Spen's joined the FBI, we're discussing the pyramids, why people think Gigi is Dada's favourite, the name Adolf, who's better at bowling, sad swans and there are CleanCo bottles all over the place and Vogue's not happy about it. Remember, if you want to get involved you can:Email us at Spencerandvoguepod@gmail.com OR drop find us on socials @voguewilliams @spencermatthewsListen and subscribe to Spencer and Vogue on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Marathon des Sables is known as the toughest footrace on earth. 6 days running over 250 kilometres, carrying all of your supplies on your back. It's not for the faint hearted, and this week, we're talking to a man who crossed the finish line just a month ago. It's former Made in Chelsea star, podcaster, entrepreneur, founder of CleanCo, Spencer Matthews. Spencer and Jenni talk about what it was really like running in the hottest recorded Marathon des Sables, the places you go to mentally when undertaking such a challenge, blisters, the endless sand dunes, staying in a bivouac, the celebratory tattoo idea that never came to fruition and his next challenge idea. This may not get you wanting to sign up, but it will definitely motivate you to get out there challenging yourself. Enjoy.

Next on the DOSE podcast, we welcome former Made in Chelsea star, Spencer Matthews. Spencer rose to fame at a young age and quickly became known as the love-to-hate or hate-to-love bad boy with a penchant for partying. However, since meeting his wife Vogue Williams in 2017, Spencer has swapped his love of hedonism for health, turning to sobriety and becoming a passionate advocate of mindful drinking. He has since created his own hugely successful non-alcoholic spirit brand, CleanCo, and has recently submitted a White Paper to the government in a bid to reset the nation's relationship with alcohol, as it emerges from lockdown. In this episode we explore Spencer's own personal road to sobriety, discussing how giving up drinking has improved not only his health, but relationships, professional life and creativity too... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tim is joined by comedian Matt Forde and they chat about his life and career.  Sponsored by Quooker and CleanCo.

This week we're joined by the founder of CleanCo, TV personality and father of two, Spencer Matthews. Our WW members may recall CleanCo being on WellnessWins, and today Spencer talks about his turbulent relationship with alcohol which led him to drastically change his drinking habits. We discuss creating goals, establishing a work ethic and juggling the things you love.

On this weeks episode, Tim talks to Kris Wadrop about artificial meat and alternative proteins, they discuss how they're made and what the future of the industry is. Sponsored by Quooker and CleanCo.

On this episode, Tim is joined by comedian Geoff Norcott, who answers 15 questions about his life and career! Sponsored by Quooker and CleanCo. 

In this episode, Anna Jordan meets Spencer Matthews – entrepreneur, TV personality and angel investor. We discuss how his experiences with alcohol encouraged him to launch his low and no alcohol drinks business, CleanCo. You can also visit smallbusiness.co.uk for more on branding and valuing your business. Remember to like us on Facebook @SmallBusinessExperts and follow us on Twitter @smallbusinessuk, all lower case. Don't forget to check out the video version of this episode and subscribe over on our YouTube channel! Would you prefer to read Spencer Matthews' podcast interview instead? Hello and welcome to Small Business Snippets, the podcast from SmallBusiness.co.uk. I'm your host, Anna Jordan. Today we have Spencer Matthews – entrepreneur, TV personality and angel investor. Spencer rose to fame on TV's Made in Chelsea and has since appeared in other shows including Celebrity Masterchef and The Jump. These days, he is the founder and CEO of low and no alcohol drinks company, CleanCo, and an investor in Cheesies cheese snacks, mental resilience app, Halen and healthy meal delivery service, Munchfit. We'll be talking about starting a business post-pandemic and what Spencer looks for as an angel investor. Anna: Hi, Spencer. Spencer: Hi, how are you getting on? Anna: Yeah, I'm doing really well. Thanks. Yeah, looking forward to the bank holiday weekend, How about yourself? Spencer: Very much. So everything's slightly blurry at the moment, plenty going on. Delighted to be as busy as we are in this tricky time, but all is well. Great stuff. Okay. First, I'd like to ask you a bit about your business CleanCo, which we mentioned in the intro. And I'm sure people are thinking, ‘Oh no, not another reality TV star jumping on the bandwagon over a trend and starting a business around it'. But yours comes from a more personal place and your own relationship with alcohol. Talk to us a bit more about that. Spencer: Absolutely. I mean, I have that same reaction just in passing that many others do when reality stars or actors start businesses and expect it to be successful based on their personality, which often isn't the case. But no, my business – or our business, I should say – now we have an incredible team and fantastic shareholders and partners, which I look forward to getting on to, was born from a personal need. I drank excessively for many years – alcohol, I mean – for many years. I decided to make a positive change, and move and throttle back my alcohol intake, well, to the point of teetotalism. For a couple of years, at least, I noticed that there was very little in the way of a credible alternative or replacement in the space. And I personally have always thought that change is quite a tricky thing. When you develop behavioural patterns in society, it's often quite difficult to break them. And I think that comes from a lack of good products in interesting markets. The gap between desire and compromise is often quite vast. That's why people stick in the in the desire camp – because a compromise is a compromise. Who would want to compromise when what you're really looking for is desire? So yeah, I noticed that when I fancy a gin and tonic, that the next best thing was either just tonic water or Diet Coke. And actually, in the UK, in particular, that made me stick out. Making a positive life choice made me stick out in a negative way, which I also thought was exciting. We set about creating a clean drinking space where you can enjoy all the benefits of a non-alcoholic drink that's essentially seemingly alcoholic. Following in the footsteps of a very successful non-alcoholic beer, of course. So in a nutshell, we just wanted to give people the experience and the social experience of ‘having fun' in drinking alcohol without the high levels of alcohol. Yeah, absolutely. You talk about trying to do a positive thing with a negative reaction. Could you talk a bit more about what kind of reception you've had? Spencer: I just think in general, not everywhere in the world, but here perhaps in particular, and times are changing. When I was drinking my most was when I was a city broker. I'd drink every day and then socialise with clients and evening drinking was just so normal and, essentially, if you weren't drinking, you'd be perceived to be boring. In the case of women, if you're not drinking, people just assume that you're pregnant. It can't possibly be because you're busy or focused or ambitious. It's turned into being a negative thing and, by the way, I was never berating bias or anything, but essentially there's a negative connotation that comes with not drinking and I actually think that due to the name, non-alcoholic mocktails sound like a mockery. Now, why would anybody go to a bar and order something non-anything? If anything, you want to have a good time, so I just thought that, following in the footsteps of an already popular word with positive life decisions: clean eating, clean living, having a clean mind, a clean body, a clean spirit. I think we I found it interesting to try and associate the already popular word, which of course we're not looking to claim came from us, but really move it into alcohol and create a positive head space within a negative industry, I'd love to talk a bit more about the word 'clean' and your use of it within the branding, because my understanding is that it's got quite negative connotations in some health circles and that it's demonising certain foods which are fine in moderation. So, tell me a bit more about why you decided to go for that particular word in your in your branding. Spencer: Well, I just I simply – respectfully, of course – just disagree with that. I think the word 'clean' is a great word. And it does exactly what it says on the tin. And I believe that, if anything, it's really attractive and makes our proposition incredibly clear. Whether or not it's detrimental in other markets – I can't speak for those markets. I look after myself. I believe that I have a good, well balanced diet and that I'm healthy. And I often eat things that I'm sure are terrible for you. Well, living a balanced life is what we're all about. We are not anti-alcohol in any way. In fact, we encourage people to live life to the fullest and have an amazing time. We also, particularly in these times, in a post-Covid world, are about to become very vocal about the importance of moderation. Drinking clean should play a part in your alcohol regime. I think full strength alcohol will one day be a thing of the past. I'm not saying that alcohol will be abolished, and people won't drink alcohol. There will always be room for alcohol. But inherently alcohol when, again, we're not waving some big flag that alcohol is bad for you. But full strength alcohol certainly has done a number on me over the years, and I'm sure anybody can attest to the fact that you very rarely, or in fact, I'm pretty sure nobody has ever woken up saying, ‘I wish I drank more alcohol'. It's usually the other way around. Just my general decision-making process, being drunk is usually quite unhelpful. I'm sure a lot of people would agree! I'd love to move into your going into investing. This is probably something that people don't really know about you, as an angel investor. How long have you been an angel investor? What got you interested in it? Spencer: I've always been interested in other people and other founders and businesses. I'm kind of led – obviously being a founder myself – I'm quite a founder-driven investor. If I care an awful lot about team and I'm the founder and the vision, then in my opinion, there are chances of success, but that's often just a kind of gut feel. Or when you talk to someone, you evaluate in your own mind whether or not you believe that this person can achieve the things that they say they can achieve. I am one for a forecast, obviously. But I do think that forecasts change. If the first domino doesn't go the way you want it to go, then presumably, your model – I'm talking really early stage now – obviously, now we create a final financial model for CleanCo and the Americas. And as an example, we do it in such a way that we're pretty confident that we'll be within 2 per cent of our financial model. But at really early stage, you don't know if you're going to sell 1,000 bottles on day one or 10 bottles on day one. It's really hard to gauge where you're heading with stuff. Take Halen as an example, the mental health app. It trains your mental resilience. It's trying to destigmatise an industry which is mental health. Joe Bates is a fantastic character founder. You should interview him, if you don't mind me saying. You get a real kick out of it – he has the most wonderful story. He's an incredibly down to earth and sensitive individual who's gone through an awful lot but remains incredibly strong. And I think that's the kind of whole Halen idea. Halen is old English for hero. And it's a Halen was someone who conquers adversity. Back to this adversity point that we're all facing in some way or another at the moment. And it's just a really interesting and exciting idea. But I knew that I was going to invest in Joe before he had a business plan. We were on a bus to Twickenham, I think, with Jodie Kidd and his partner who are friends of ours. Vogue [Spencer's wife] and Jodie are friends and I had not met Joe. We were sat on the bus. And he was to ask him about clean, and this is about a year and a half ago, so we were far less developed than we are now. I was giving him my plans and projections and what I think was possible, and he shared the idea that was Halen with me. And immediately I thought, ‘Well, how brilliant'. He was describing it as the Peloton of mental health. I just thought it was fascinating. So then and there, I decided that we'd get involved in that. That can be seen as shooting from the hip and unlikely to ever hit any home runs. But I was in Halen at the very start, from the ground level. Almost any success that it experiences is good news for my investment. So I quite like really early stage stuff, albeit incredibly risky. And if you are listening to this, and I'm a seasoned expert, but just do be very aware that when making any kind of investment, there's a good chance you might lose money. Absolutely. The companies that you're invested in, as again mentioned in the intro quite closely linked, there is very much health and wellness and fitness. What do you look for in a company that you may be considering investing in? Spencer: Experiencing the team. It's my personal belief that no one individual has the answers to anything. And regardless of the life that you've lived, and the experience that you have, surrounding yourself with people who have more experience in the sector that you're looking to crack is always a good idea. Spare no expense to get the best people behind you. Incentivise them well, make sure that everybody is happy within the team and that they are delighted to show up to work every day and that they're incentivised to carry out the dream and the vision. If I can feel that from another team, then that's a good starting point. I've spent many years working in jobs that I really don't like, and you hear about all the time that people do things that they don't enjoy and live from paycheck to paycheck. That's fine, though. Everybody's different and everybody has different dreams and goals. For me, hopefully succeeding and being at the forefront of something is all about it being exciting. I struggle to sleep at night sometimes, because I'm so excited for the following day to arrive so that I can get back into what I was doing the day before at work – that for me is awesome. I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by others who share that vision. For us, it's like we're constantly smashing down walls, we're constantly feeling like we're kind of flying. That's the feeling that I want to harness. I felt that with Joe, and I love this team, I felt that with Munchfit with Angus, and I use the products obviously as well if you use something and it's fantastic, then good. There has to be a reason I've done all this rubbish television, right? If I can spread the word on an incredible product at an early stage and get other people to try it then perhaps that, in a strange roundabout way, is the value I can add to an early stage business having done the rubbish TV. And the last question I want to ask you is kind of twofold. Over the course of pandemic, unfortunately, we've seen a lot of redundancies. But we've also seen the number of people starting their own businesses absolutely skyrocket. From a business owner's point of view, and an investor's point of view: What businesses do you think are in need just now, what problems need to be solved? And couple of quick tips on how business owners can get started because it can seem so overwhelming, and there's so much information out there. Spencer: Not having to leave your house and anything that delivers to your house, obviously, is a great business model at the moment. At one point, we were uncertain as to what would happen with retailers, right at the very beginning of the first pandemic. We were unaware if the Co-op was going to stay open. All of a sudden, you're thinking about how we are going to eat, like, we weren't sure if Deliveroo would be operating or whatever. Anything that delivers things straight to your door is obviously great. Sorry, you kind of put me on the spot with that one. We've got the great Justin Hicklin, the chairman of CleanCo, here as well. What problems needs sorting, Justin? What do you think? Justin: Day-to-day? Spencer: Yeah, just day-to-day in the UK. Justin: People turning up and sorting out computers within half an hour. Spencer: There you go – computers. Justin is of a different age. Justin: I think all the pain points in life ultimately will have some sort of instant response to it. So, instant plumbing you can have, because people are not technically minded. Spencer: Electricians – it would be good if an electrician could be on call at all times. Justin: Premium plumbing service, premium computer services. If you've got a deadline and your computer crashes, you want somebody in half an hour and you're going to pay £50 to do it. Is that [already] available? If the answer is no, then that's an opportunity. Spencer: Excellent. Let's get the trademark registration on the line. Justin: We're going to call it Key. Spencer: Yes, Key. Lovely. Spencer: Well, I need anything that simplifies, essentially. Anything that makes life easier is popular, right? People like shortcuts to things. Justin: Actually, that's a really good idea, we should do that. Spencer: Okay, Justin. Well, why don't we talk about it after the pod? And if you're thinking about starting a business, or I mean, it's going to be ever slightly boring, because I feel like I might have already covered it, but surround yourself with excellent people don't cut corners initially, raise more money than you think you might need. Don't be too bullish on what you own at the very beginning. If the right person comes along, and the deal feels good, you should do it. Owning 100 per cent of nothing is nothing and owning a chunk of something valuable is valuable. So, I think you got a lot of people – who pitch to me, anyway – who have these wild views of where they're going to be in a few years, and they want to own 90 per cent of it. This is the ‘they'll sell you this for this huge number', and you just go, ‘But without key individuals, you'll get it nowhere near where you think you're going to get it.' So, 'share the love' is what I'm trying to say. And just be intelligent with the raise. I remember, right at the very beginning, I had very little idea of how to structure and start a business, I'd like to think I do now. And essentially, we needed maybe 12 or 13 times more money than I thought we might need. I was sitting with a really interesting and eccentric gentleman who's built businesses before and it was very funny. He asked me how much money I thought we'd need to get CleanCo off the ground. I was talking in the tens of thousands. I thought we needed £60,000, maybe £100,000. I was thinking about things on how we get it going. And then how do we build from a small start, and I'll always remember it, he said, ‘Mate, you need about £3m.' And I was like, ‘What?' And then you kind of learn, and we raised a bit less than that on our first round, we raised £2.1m. But then quickly, at the end of the first year, raised another £7m and, in fact, next week our opening round to raise three times that on top of it. We're moving incredibly quickly. To get something going, particularly in a market that doesn't really exist, churns cash like you wouldn't believe. See business as kind of like going to war: try not to go underfunded and under flanked. You need plenty of good company and plenty of cash. Nice. Just quickly, you've talked about really liking exciting businesses, but getting wild propositions. Spencer: I was guilty of it as well. I think you get so wound up in your own head that your idea is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm not saying that good entrepreneurs shouldn't overvalue their dreams, because it's [a case of] how do you get there. If you start tiny, it's very difficult to grow it into something really substantial. Dream big, for sure. But, if you're unable to back up a really ‘hockey stick' kind of aggressive forecast... Had I gone into fundraising meetings, without some of my partners at the very beginning, essentially on hot air, and they say ‘Oh, well, how do you think you're going to achieve this level of turnover in 2023', and you haven't got a really detailed, concise answer that fits the bill, you're never going to raise any money. You just need to be quite careful. I was looking to value CleanCo a lot higher than we ended up going to market with at the beginning, because I felt like this doesn't exist. We were going to be the best in the world, we're going to be the biggest no-and-low-drinks company on the planet. You just have to just calm down slightly and replace enthusiasm with projections that make sense to good people. I think there's a lot of noise out there in the market. Everyone thinks that they're the best and everyone thinks that their idea's going to change the world. It's just a question, I suppose, of judging one's character when you're talking to somebody and understanding what you think to be relevant and truthful. Anna: Well, that's a great place to wrap up. So, thank you for coming on the podcast, Spencer. Spencer: It was a great pleasure. Thanks very much for having me. You can find out more about CleanCo at clean.co. You can also visit SmallBusiness.co.uk for more on branding and valuing your business. Remember to like us on Facebook @SmallBusinessExperts and on Twitter @smallbusinessuk (all lowercase) and subscribe to our YouTube channel, linked in the description. Until next time, thank you for listening.  

Radio presenter Christian O'Connell joins Tim for a chat about his life and career. Sponsored by Quooker and CleanCo.

Again with the no video I get it, I get it but hey at least we got something for you this week. It was great re-welcoming the show's first ever guest, Tyler Rose, back on. Listen to us babble on about his new shoe cleaning endeavor, MMA and plenty more! Too bad we'll never get to see his face. - Follow CleanCo on Instagram - @cleanco401- Subscribe to CleanCo on YouTube  - CleanCo401- Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/abarbosa000/- Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheSimian_- Share, like, comment and subscribe on my YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFn3FPnTegakyd9YpoYfsQg- Premium 16oz boxing gloves - https://www.obsessiveaggression.com- Audio platforms - https://smokingsimian.buzzsprout.com