The co-founder of a Wandsworth coffee company has been named Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year at the Natwest Great British Entrepreneur Awards. 

The awards are set up to celebrate the hard work and inspiring stories of entrepreneurs in the UK.

Co-founder Peter Grainger said his company has experienced its most successful year to date, after being shortlisted in the Amazon Growing Business Awards and undertaking a major relaunch.
 
Mr Grainger said: “It’s really awesome to be recognised in these awards and is a fitting end to the year we’ve had. We relaunched with a brand new look, range extension and first ever ad campaign – providing coffee lovers with an exciting choice of strength-based coffees to enjoy at home. We’re very excited to accelerate the success and growth that we’ve had over the last five years even further, with the help of the significant investment that we are currently seeking.” 

Since launching in 2011, CafePod Coffee Company has become the supermarket leader and fastest-growing Nespresso compatible brand in the UK. Grainger’s story started with his own frustration as a consumer at how difficult and expensive it was to buy Nespresso pods and from wanting more choice and access to more exciting, quality coffee at home. 

At the time, Nespresso had the monopoly on the at-home coffee capsule – however, their patent was about to expire so, without knowing anything about coffee at the time, Peter and his business partner left their conventional city jobs, dived straight in and became the first company to produce Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules.

Francesca James, co-founder of the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards, said: “2018 has been a record year for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the number of entries we received. But the quality of applications has been above and beyond what we’ve seen in previous years.”