Episode #514 - Turning Adversity into Innovation and Changing Lives One Sensory Product at a Time - with Andrew Western
Release Date: 09/10/2025
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...
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Episode #505 - Disrupting Home Services: How WarmZilla Is Scaling with Tech, Branding, and Bold Ambition - with Matthew Powell
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent speaks with Matthew Powell, the founder of WarmZilla – a fast-growing disruptor in the UK home services market. From boilers to EV chargers and air conditioning, WarmZilla has built a 24/7 online platform that delivers next-day installations across the nation. Over just two and a half years, Matthew scaled the business to multi-million pound revenues, all without external funding - and they are now in their 7th year. But now, with an eye on £50 million turnover within five years, he’s exploring new frontiers – from international...
info_outlineHi, I’m Granger Forson. You can always find me at www.bizsmart-gloucestershire.co.uk 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 equipment.
But Andy’s real pivot came when life introduced him to a new challenge — and opportunity. Inspired by the needs of autistic teenagers, he founded Sam Boards, creating sensory activity and motor skill products that were both discreet and effective. What started as 3D-printed prototypes quickly gained traction in schools, hospitals, dementia care homes, and even police custody suites, helping people manage anxiety, neurodiverse challenges, and recovery.
Today, Sam Boards products are used by 14 UK police forces, the NHS, and organisations as far away as Australia and Ukraine. Andy’s journey shows how adversity — from divorce to COVID setbacks — can be turned into purpose-driven innovation with global impact.
If you’re curious about creating products that solve real problems, growing businesses with integrity, and leaving a legacy of positive change, this episode will inspire and challenge you in equal measure.
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, innovation, and life-changing impact with Andy Western.
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