Episode #621: How EcoSIP Reinvented Wine Packaging and Built a Defensible ScaleUp - with Jamie Smith
Release Date: 06/24/2026
Episode #645: Scaling Through Change: Leadership, Diversification and Building a Stronger Manufacturing Business - with Suzie Siddall
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent is joined by Suzie Siddall, CEO of Opus International Products, a Warwickshire-based precision engineering and manufacturing business working across automotive, aerospace, defence, industrial and medical sectors. Suzie’s story is one of leadership through significant change. Having moved from Managing Director to CEO following the death of the company’s founder in 2024, she has had to balance continuity with the need to reshape the business for its next stage of growth. Today, Opus has a team of around 33 people and significant UK...
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Episode #644: From Generalist to Niche: Scaling Through Focus, Certification and Community - with Janet Tanguay
ScaleUp Radio
What happens when you stop saying yes to everything and commit to the part of your business that customers really want? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent talks to Janet Tanguay, founder of The Hammock Way of Life, about the journey from broad business consulting to building a scalable business around vision boarding, coach certification and a growing global community. Janet's story is a great example of how focus can unlock growth. The turning point came during and after the pandemic. Janet had been using vision boarding to help businesses think creatively about their future,...
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Episode #643: Trust Isn’t a Feeling. It’s a KPI - with Rob McKenna
ScaleUp Radio
What if one of the biggest constraints on your ability to scale is something you’re not measuring at all? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Rob McKenna for a fascinating discussion about trust: how to measure it, why founders frequently misjudge it, and why building trust isn’t about creating a perfect culture. Rob introduces the WiLD Trust Index, a framework designed to turn trust from something intangible into something leaders can measure, understand and deliberately improve. For founders, there’s a particularly important message here. Delegation and...
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Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell
ScaleUp Radio
What would you do differently if you knew from day one that somebody else would eventually need to run your business? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I’m joined by Gavin Bell, entrepreneur and founder of Yatta, the paid media agency he deliberately built to be sellable before its acquisition by Velstar in 2024. Gavin’s story is particularly interesting because selling Yatta wasn’t something that simply happened after years of building the agency. It influenced how he designed the business from the outset. Inspired by Built to Sell, Gavin moved away from building a business around his...
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Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young
ScaleUp Radio
What makes a business genuinely valuable? For many founders the answer isn't more customers, more turnover or even more profit. It's creating a business that can thrive without depending on them every single day. In this episode Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur, investor and business strategist Jake Young to explore why founder dependency is one of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth and successful exits. Jake shares the frameworks he uses with businesses ranging from ambitious SMEs through to organisations preparing for institutional investment and IPOs. From defining your end...
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Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield
ScaleUp Radio
Making decisions as a founder or leader is rarely about having perfect information. In this episode, Kevin Brent is joined by David Mansfield, strategist, board adviser and researcher into strategic decision making, to explore why so many intelligent leadership teams still make poor strategic choices and what business owners can do to dramatically improve the quality of their decisions. Drawing on doctoral research and decades of board experience, David explains why the process behind a decision matters far more than simply reaching an answer. He shares practical techniques that help leaders...
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Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer
ScaleUp Radio
Growing a business isn't just about strategy, systems or structure. As organisations grow, founders often discover that the biggest obstacle isn't the market. It's themselves. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Peter Rimmer, founder of Tusk Consulting, to explore why scaling successfully requires founders to evolve alongside their businesses. Peter shares why organisation design should start with people rather than process, how founders can overcome the fear of letting go, and why creating a culture where both hiring and leaving are positive experiences is essential for...
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Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation
ScaleUp Radio
Growing a business beyond founder-led sales is one of the biggest challenges many SMEs face. In this special ScaleUp Club edition of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined once again by returning guest Dhanushka Tennakoon from RE24 for an interactive Q&A session exploring one of the biggest questions facing growing businesses: How do you create a predictable flow of new opportunities instead of relying on referrals and hope? Alongside the discussion, Kevin also shares this month's AI Pulse update, covering one of the most talked about AI stories of recent weeks and what it means for business...
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Episode #637: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Why focus beats hustle every time
ScaleUp Radio
Choose Less. Scale Better. Three founders. Three wake up calls. One lesson every business owner needs to hear. What do an authority strategist, a sales leader and an AI entrepreneur have in common? Far more than you might think. In this special edition of ScaleUp Radio Shorts, Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt reflect on three recent conversations with Erica Holthausen, Gulliver Burns and Lee Nazari. Despite completely different industries and experiences, all three arrived at the same conclusion: sustainable growth doesn't come from doing more. It comes from choosing less, focusing better and...
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Episode #636: How Not to Scale: Why Revenue, Ego and Hustle Can Destroy Your Business - with Gulliver Burns
ScaleUp Radio
What happens when you build multiple multi-million-pound businesses... but almost lose yourself in the process? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur Gulliver Burns, who has experienced both extraordinary growth and devastating setbacks. From building a call centre with over 200 employees before the age of 25 to creating a multi-million-pound automotive business, Gulliver has learned the hard way that scaling without strong foundations comes at a significant cost. Rather than another success story, this conversation is a refreshing look at how not to scale a...
info_outlineWhat happens when a pandemic destroys your original business model?
For Jamie Smith and his co-founder Alex, it became the catalyst for creating an entirely new category within the wine industry.
Starting as a wine retailer and tasting club, they quickly discovered that shipping glass bottles was expensive, inefficient and environmentally problematic. Rather than accept the challenge, they spent three years developing a proprietary wine pouch capable of preserving and ageing wine in a way that mimics a traditional glass bottle and cork.
Today, EcoSIP works with major brands including Naked Wines and The Wine Society, providing innovative sustainable packaging solutions that reduce cost, waste and environmental impact while maintaining wine quality.
In this episode, Jamie shares the journey from startup retailer to specialist co-packer, the realities of bootstrapping deep product innovation, and their ambitious plans to make sustainable wine packaging a global standard.
In this episode:
A pandemic pivot that changed everything
When lockdown disrupted their newly launched wine retail business, Jamie and Alex quickly shifted towards direct-to-consumer wine tasting experiences.
The challenge soon became obvious.
Shipping wine in glass bottles was expensive, heavy and fragile, often costing more than customers expected and creating significant environmental impact.
The solution started with a prototype made using hair straighteners and a cereal box.
That simple idea ultimately evolved into EcoSIP's proprietary wine pouch technology.
Solving a problem others couldn't
The team identified a major issue with existing alternatives.
Cans prevent oxygen transfer completely, affecting wine development.
Traditional bag-in-box solutions allow too much oxygen exposure, impacting quality.
EcoSIP set out to create packaging that behaves more like a glass bottle with a cork.
After three years of research and development, multiple material generations and constant reinvestment of profits, they developed a pouch capable of replicating the oxygen transfer characteristics needed for wine ageing.
Building a defensible business
One of the most fascinating aspects of the conversation is how Jamie and the team built genuine barriers to entry.
Their competitive advantage now includes:
• Proprietary pouch design
• Trademark protection
• Patent-pending processes
• Specialist filling and preservation methods
• Deep operational expertise developed through years of experimentation
The result is a packaging solution that many competitors would struggle to replicate.
Quality control at scale
Protecting wine quality remains central to EcoSIP's proposition.
Their process includes:
• HEPA-filtered clean room environments
• Individual bottle quality checks before decanting
• CO₂ blanketing to minimise oxidation
• Nitrogen purging to reduce oxygen levels before filling
• Carefully engineered packaging materials designed for long-term wine preservation
These systems allow clients to maintain product quality while benefiting from a more sustainable delivery model.
Growing through reputation
Unlike many startups, EcoSIP has achieved growth primarily through referrals and word of mouth.
Satisfied customers have become advocates, creating a strong pipeline without significant marketing investment.
This organic growth has helped the business scale while remaining fully self-funded.
Funding growth without losing focus
The company has been built using:
• Trading profits
• R&D tax credits
• A Bounce Back Loan
Every available resource has been reinvested into developing the technology and refining the process.
Now, with the product proven and commercial demand growing, the next step is investment in sales and marketing capability.
The global vision
Jamie's ambition extends far beyond UK wine packaging.
The long-term vision is to establish packaging hubs close to wine production regions around the world.
Instead of shipping heavy glass bottles internationally, wine could be packaged near source and distributed more sustainably.
Eventually, EcoSIP aims to transition from co-packing to licensing its technology directly to wineries globally.
The One Key Thing
Innovation becomes far more valuable when it solves a genuine customer problem.
EcoSIP's success didn't come from creating new technology for its own sake. It came from relentlessly solving the challenges of cost, sustainability and quality in wine distribution until they created something genuinely difficult to copy.
Standout Quote
"We spent three years reinvesting everything back into the product until we had a solution that genuinely worked."
About EcoSIP
EcoSIP provides innovative sustainable wine packaging solutions through its proprietary pouch technology, helping wine brands reduce costs, improve sustainability and deliver high-quality products to consumers in a more flexible format.
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.
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G90 Summit
Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter.
If that's you, the G90 Summit is worth a look.
A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen.
Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat.
Jamie can be found here:
https://onlinewinetasting.club/
Resources:
The Maker & The Merchant Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/51mYMnpuCR9UKxydI1OgXT?si=c75509dfa1f14124