Episode #457 - From Bedroom Startup to £9M Travel Empire - How Holiday Architects Rebuilt Built a Thriving Travel Brand post COVID - with Andrew Hunt
Release Date: 02/24/2025
Episode #515 - Creating Truly Inclusive Events – With Gail Walker
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Gail Walker, the inspirational founder of Diverse Minds Events Limited – a company dedicated to making events truly accessible and neuro-inclusive. Born out of Gail’s personal experience as the parent of an autistic child, the business has grown since its inception in 2019 into a recognised leader in inclusive event support, even in the face of the pandemic. From mobile sensory buses to pop-up sensory spaces like igloo domes and bell tents, Diverse Minds Events is reshaping how event organisers think about accessibility. Gail...
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Episode #514 - Turning Adversity into Innovation and Changing Lives One Sensory Product at a Time - with Andrew Western
ScaleUp Radio
Hi, I’m Granger Forson. You can always find me at or on LinkedIn. On this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I had the pleasure of speaking with Andy Western, founder of AJW Solutions and Sam Boards. Andy’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and remarkable innovation. From a five-million-pound management buyout falling through to starting AJW Solutions in 2007, he carved a niche in the defence and aerospace industry. Supplying the MOD within months of launching, Andy built a trusted reputation in engineering, project management, and ground support...
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Episode #513 - ScaleUp Club - Sales In, Sales Out – How to Build Funnels That Work - Mark Day
ScaleUp Radio
In this ScaleUp VIP Club session, we focused on the crucial topic of building high-performing sales funnels – and cutting through the noise to make your marketing really work. We kicked off with our new monthly segment, the AI Pulse, delivered by Paul Rhodes. Paul shared actionable insights on building an “AI Brain” – using custom GPTs to extract knowledge from the founder’s head, reduce team dependency, and supercharge productivity. A standout quote: "AI is not about replacing humans, it's about humans with AI versus humans without." Paul highlighted how combining good documentation...
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Episode #512 - ScaleUp Club - Leading with Specialism, Integrity and Authenticity in Recruitment - with Kelly Cartwright
ScaleUp Radio
This episode of ScaleUp Radio brings a fresh twist – a live Q&A from one of our ScaleUp Club sessions, featuring returning guest Kelly Cartwright, founder of Core Recruiter Ltd. Kelly joined us to share honest, down-to-earth insights on building a values-driven, specialist recruitment agency in the highly competitive construction sector. Kelly first appeared on ScaleUp Radio to share her business journey – and this time, she’s back to dive deeper into the practical realities of scaling, culture-fit hiring, navigating economic cycles, and maintaining a human touch in an often...
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Episode #511 - Democratising Data Science for Agencies – with Matias Carpio
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Matias Carpio, co-founder of Onlyscience – a soon-to-launch SaaS platform on a mission to make advanced marketing analytics accessible to agencies of all sizes. Onlyscience is building an AI-powered analytics tool that enables marketing agencies to quantify and optimise campaign performance – all without needing a technical background. The platform, which includes a storytelling layer for actionable insights, aims to help agencies move beyond spreadsheets and guesswork with a simplified yet powerful solution. Though the business is...
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Episode #510 - From Kitchen Experiments to Award-Winning Curry Kits - with Aliza Ratnayaka
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent sits down with Aliza Ratnayaka, co-founder of Little Big Flavour Kits — a business that grew from humble beginnings during the pandemic into a multi-award-winning food brand bringing authentic Sri Lankan curry kits to UK kitchens. Aliza shares how she transformed packaging spices for friends into a niche, sustainable product sourced directly from Sri Lankan farmers, including a long-standing partnership with SDS Spice, a family-run cinnamon plantation. Along the way, she’s tackled the challenges of educating customers on Sri Lankan...
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Episode #509 - Pixels with Purpose: Building a Purpose-Driven Creative Collective - with Wes Henstock
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Wes Henstock, founder of Confid3ntial – a purpose-led design and brand strategy agency with a global reach and a truly distinctive structure. Launched in 2006 after an unexpected layoff, Confid3ntial began as a white-label service provider for creative agencies. It has since evolved into a remote-first collective of creatives, united by the mission of delivering "pixels with purpose" – where branding is driven by meaning, not just aesthetics. In their conversation, Wes shares his views on how purpose should infuse every part of a...
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Episode #508 - ScaleUp Club - Turning Customer Service into a Strategic Growth Lever - with Logan Naidu
ScaleUp Radio
This month’s special edition of ScaleUp Radio is a deep dive into what it really means to make customer service a powerful driver of business growth. Recorded live at our monthly ScaleUp Club session, we welcome back Logan Naidu, founder of Kernel Groups and a previous guest on the podcast, for an exclusive Q&A. Logan shares powerful insights from his journey scaling a business that’s not just growing in numbers but creating real impact in the market — particularly through customer service excellence. His firm, Kernel Groups, operates with over 280 employees across the globe and is...
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Episode #507 - From a £10 Startup to Strategic Growth: The Orange Notebook Journey
- with Corina Calugaru and Alina Stancu
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Corina Calugaru and Alina Stancu, the dynamic duo behind The Orange Notebook – a business that started during the pandemic with just £10 in the bank and a whole lot of passion. From a modest marketing agency, it has evolved into a strategy-led consultancy offering business coaching, outsourced marketing, and rebranding services. We delve into how they turned an idea sketched in an orange notebook into a thriving business, and the insights they’ve gained helping other entrepreneurs scale. The conversation is structured in three...
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Episode #506 - Evolving From Handmade Gifts To A Successful Wellness & Lifestyle Brand - with Edith Peterhegyi
ScaleUp Radio
On this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Edith Peterhegyi, the creative force behind Eden Collection, a rapidly growing wellness and lifestyle brand that began as a lockdown hobby and is now a thriving business offering beautifully crafted, all-natural products. From Buzz Bombs to shower mists, facial oils, and home fragrances, Eden Collection has built a loyal customer base through a combination of aesthetic excellence, product quality, and uplifting hidden messages. But this isn’t just a story of pretty packaging—Edith shares the realities of scaling a product-based...
info_outlineHi there, I’m Granger Forson, and welcome to another episode of ScaleUp Radio! You can find me at www.bizsmart-gloucestershire.co.uk or connect with me on LinkedIn.
On today’s episode, I’m speaking with Andrew Hunt, the founder and CEO of Holiday Architects, a travel company that has gone from a bedroom startup to a £9 million turnover business, specializing in long-haul, tailor-made holidays. But this is not just a story of success—it’s a story of resilience, reinvention, and smart scaling.
Andrew shares how he built a business where deep customer relationships, an experienced team, and a strategic approach to marketing became the foundation of growth. He takes us through the challenges of scaling, surviving the COVID-19 crisis, and the decision to merge with another company—a move that ultimately made Holiday Architects stronger than ever.
We’ll also dive into Andrew’s approach to recruitment, financial management, and building a team that thrives in a remote-first world. He explains why he values trust and delegation and how he empowers his employees to take ownership of decisions.
And finally, we look ahead to the future—Andrew has ambitious plans to build a ‘house of brands’ within the travel industry over the next five years. He’s shifting his focus to group-level strategy and mentoring the next generation of leaders.
To ensure you don’t miss any inspirational future episodes, do subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.
So, let’s now dive into the inspiring journey of resilience, reinvention, and smart scaling with Andrew Hunt.
Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for.
If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here:
https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin
You can get in touch with Granger here:
Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!
Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.
More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/
Andrew can be found here:
https://holidayarchitects.co.uk/
Resources:
Eat Sleep Work Repeat Podcast - https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/category/podcast/
Perplexity app - https://www.perplexity.ai/