Sweet success

Young mum Kirsty was on a mission to find an alternative for icecream that her son Jacob, now five, could enjoy. Jake suffers from a life-threatening nut allergy, and he is also dairy-intolerant.

“I spent hours and hours on recipes – I used to do it until all hours of the night,” Kirsty explains.

“I had my pyjamas on in the kitchen, blending, throwing things in pans... there were things flying around in the kitchen – and my kitchen is so small!” the 25-year-old remembers with a giggle.

Now, her range of ‘free from’ frozen desserts is available from major suppliers including Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose.

Kirsty came to public attention when she appeared as a contestant on Dragons’ Den, pitching her desserts which she'd branded as ‘Worthenshaws’ - a conglomeration of her and her boyfriend’s surnames.

In the programme that aired in July 2010, Kirsty and her desserts charmed two sweet toothed Dragons – Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne – and she left the Den with a £65,000 investment and two very savvy business partners.

Since then, the range has been rebranded as Worthenshaw’s Freedom, reflecting the fact that the products are free from dairy, sugar, gluten, soya, egg, nuts, and artificial flavours or colours. As such, they are suitable for food allergy sufferers, followers of a vegan or vegetarian diet, and people watching their weight and their sugar intake.

The original idea to launch her own business grew out of the realisation that the ‘free from’ market was growing, but most of the products were only free from one or two 'problem' ingredients. Worthenshaws Freedom products are now standouts in the market because they do appeal to such a wide range of consumers.

Kirsty's story is testimony to the fact that you don't need a stack of business degrees, decades of experience running companies and a 50-strong team to become a success in business.

“You have to be passionate about what you’re doing and you have to believe in it or no one else will,” she says.
“You need to have passion and drive, and just work really hard, there’s no way around it.”

She is also proof that you don't have to have a cutthroat personality thrive in business. Kirsty is open, intelligent, and quite simply – a darling, but with a determination that you can't help being inspired by.

I caught up with Kirsty recently for a quick coffee and a chat in between her business meetings at an extremely busy and boisterous Cafe Gold in Hanwell, London, for a filmed interview with StartupTV Digital Business Magazine (Startups News' sister publication).

What does young Jake think about seeing his Mum in the media?
What’s next for Worthenshaws Freedom?
And what’s it like to have Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones on your team?
To find out, click here.