HOME-COOKED FOOD BUSINESS IS INVESTING TO GROW

The Transformation Chef, a family business which provides healthy homecooked meals, is looking to grow its sustainability-focused brand.

The Thatcham company is planning to scale up its operations to capture a bigger bite of the UK’s ready meal and ready-to-cook market, which is currently valued at £3.1 billion per annum.

The Transformation Chef was launched in 2018 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Rachel Connor.

Chris had spent 15 years working in the hospitality industry, including as chef patron of his own restaurant while Rachel worked in the events sector.

From its kitchen in West Berkshire, the company now produces a range of “heatto-eat” restaurant-standard frozen meals which are free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar.

And the meals, which are packaged in sustainable and recyclable materials, can be delivered across mainland UK.

The company’s sustainable credentials includes procuring food and ingredients directly from source wherever possible; using food waste to support sustainable energy projects and carbon offsetting of all the company’s delivery miles with a returns option for packaging to be used again.

Earlier this year, The Transformation Chef launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise a minimum of £125,000.

The investment will go towards new frozen storage space and packaging capability to support higher volumes on the back of increased sales which are forecast to rise to £1.5 million next year and it predicts to nearly £5 million per year by 2024.

Chris Connor said: “We are proud of what we’ve achieved since setting up the business in 2018. The UK ready and frozen meal market is huge and now experiencing further post-Covid growth so we feel this is the perfect time to take The Transformation Chef to a higher level.”

Peequal, UK’s first women’s urinal, makes splash after closing funding round

The team behind the UK’s first female urinal, Peequal, have raised £250,000 in their first funding round, as they strive to pioneer ‘pee-equality’ for women and make long queues for the ladies a thing of the past.

University of Bristol graduates

Amber Probyn, 23, and Hazel McShane, 25, say their flatpack portable urinals made of recycled sea plastics are six times faster to use and produce 98 per cent less carbon than traditional portable toilets.

And investors agree. Peequal has closed its first funding round, with a quarter of a million pounds raised to take the business into its next phase.

The investors are the British Design Fund; Monzo Bank cofounder Tom Blomfield; former Gü Chief Operation O cer Sarah Jones alongside angel investors Chris Stamp and Elaine Groenestein.

Amber and Hazel’s urinals will become a common sight at British festivals and events, with 250 units currently under construction and several deals being signed with large-scale festival operators.

Deals are also under way with European festivals for the 2023 season.