How Abi Selbey grew a £36m business built on inclusivity, purpose, and mission to change an industry

This week, we’re joined by Abi Selby, the founder of Spabreaks.com — the UK’s leading spa booking platform, sending over 16,000 people to spas every week.

Abi shares the full story of how she spotted a gap in the market, made wellness more accessible, and grew her business through sheer grit, strong relationships, and a commitment to purpose.

We talk about:

• Her lightbulb moment (on a golf buggy, no less)
• Making spa and wellness inclusive for people with cancer, disabilities and beyond
• Surviving COVID as a founder — and bouncing back stronger
• The role of mentorship and surrounding yourself with the right people
• Why founders need to celebrate the small wins — and protect their own wellbeing, too

If you’re looking for an honest, inspiring conversation with a founder who’s been through it all and kept her mission front and centre — this one’s for you.

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Hosted by Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D, Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and Startup Mentor.

Luke started and scaled his disruptive food business, generating over £15M in sales delivering impactful products to more than 1 million customers. 

PACK'D originally launched with support and funding from Virgin StartUp and now Luke returns to support the next generation of founders as a Virgin StartUp Mentor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ten years ago, Pip Murray was blending nut butter in her kitchen after marathon training. Today, she’s the founder of a multi-million pound food brand, stocked in major supermarkets, with a cult following.

In this episode of Founder to Founder, Pip shares the full, unfiltered story. From her first market stall on cold winter weekends to securing manufacturing, branding on a shoestring, and raising her first £120k on Crowdcube.

Listen in if you’re:

• Starting a food brand (or thinking about it)
• Wondering whether to take the leap
• Looking for honest insight on product, people and purpose

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If you’re an early-stage founder looking for support to help you start up, join the Virgin StartUp Community to connect with other founders, mentors and advisors to support you through your journey.

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Hosted by Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D, Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and Startup Mentor.

Luke started and scaled his disruptive food business, generating over £15M in sales delivering impactful products to more than 1 million customers. 

PACK'D originally launched with support and funding from Virgin StartUp and now Luke returns to support the next generation of founders as a Virgin StartUp Mentor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Founder to Founder, we sit down with Andy McNulty—ex-CEO of Victoria Beckham and co-founder of Touch Stay, the digital guidebook platform used by thousands of hospitality businesses worldwide.

Andy’s journey into tech entrepreneurship is anything but traditional. From CFO roles at Gucci and Alexander McQueen to launching a SaaS startup with no technical background, he shares how intuition, resilience, and a strong sense of purpose helped him build, scale, and eventually sell Touch Stay.

We explore:

• How a binder full of flies sparked a SaaS business
• Why Virgin StartUp’s accelerator was a game-changer
• The moment COVID accelerated growth instead of ending it
• What it’s really like selling your ‘business baby’
• Why mentorship, gut instinct and “play money” matter more than perfection
• Life after exit—and why he’s not done with tech just yet

Andy also reflects on grief, identity, health scares, and the emotional cost of letting go. This is a raw, insightful look at building something meaningful—and knowing when to walk away.

If you’re a founder juggling the high-stakes world of SaaS, or wondering what it takes to go from startup to sale—this episode is full of gold.

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If you’re an early-stage founder looking for support to help you start up, join the Virgin StartUp Community to connect with other founders, mentors and advisors to support you through your journey.

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Hosted by Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D, Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and Startup Mentor.

Luke started and scaled his disruptive food business, generating over £15M in sales delivering impactful products to more than 1 million customers. 

PACK'D originally launched with support and funding from Virgin StartUp and now Luke returns to support the next generation of founders as a Virgin StartUp Mentor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this inspiring episode of Founder to Founder, we sit down with Olivia Jenkins, co-founder of D.LOUISE, the sustainable, tarnish-free jewellery brand that’s redefining what it means to build a purpose-led business.

After losing her mother and facing a period of uncertainty during the pandemic, Olivia poured her energy into creating something meaningful. With zero industry experience and just a gut instinct, she bootstrapped D.LOUISE into a fast-growing business rooted in bravery, simplicity, and joy.

We talk about turning grief into purpose, building confidence as a first-time founder, and why sustainable growth—not overnight success—is the mindset shift more entrepreneurs need to hear. Olivia also opens up about mentorship, mental health, and how showing up authentically fuels both community and commercial growth.

If you’re building a product-based brand or need a nudge of inspiration to get started, this one’s for you.

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If you’re an early-stage founder looking for support to help you start up, join the Virgin StartUp Community to connect with other founders, mentors and advisors to support you through your journey.

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Hosted by Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D, Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and Startup Mentor.

Luke started and scaled his disruptive food business, generating over £15M in sales delivering impactful products to more than 1 million customers. 

PACK'D originally launched with support and funding from Virgin StartUp and now Luke returns to support the next generation of founders as a Virgin StartUp Mentor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by David Abrahamovitch, founder and CEO of Grind – from turning his Dad’s old phone shop into a go to coffee come cocktail destination, he’s since built a brilliant D2C brand. Today the company is a certified B Corp, they have 14 locations across London and sell millions of coffees every year through their home delivery service.

We’re talking to David about what it really takes to scale a business, how mentorship has played a role in his journey, and why surrounding yourself with the right people can make all the difference.

FOLLOW DAVID ABRAHAMOVITCH

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FOLLOW VIRGIN STARTUP

If you’re an early-stage founder looking for support to help you start up, join the Virgin StartUp Community to connect with other founders, mentors and advisors to support you through your journey.

Community.virginstartup.org

Instagram

YouTube 

TikTok

Linkedin

Hosted by Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D, Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and Startup Mentor.

Luke started and scaled his disruptive food business, generating over £15M in sales delivering impactful products to more than 1 million customers. 

PACK'D originally launched with support and funding from Virgin StartUp and now Luke returns to support the next generation of founders as a Virgin StartUp Mentor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this powerful episode of Founder to Founder, we’re joined by Alex Partridge, founder, mental health advocate, host of the ADHD chatter podcast and co-founder of the viral media brands UNILAD and LADbible, and now Virgin StartUp Mentor.

After being diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 34, Alex is now a massive advocate for mental health and neurodiversity in the workplace, alongside that has authored his memoir ‘Now it all makes sense: how an ADHD diagnosis brought clarity to my life’.

Alex has truly experienced the full spectrum of entrepreneurship and we’re diving into his rollercoaster journey and how his experiences have helped shape his success today.

FOLLOW ALEX PARTRIDGE 

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FOLLOW VIRGIN STARTUP

If you’re an early-stage founder looking for support to help you start up, join the Virgin StartUp Community to connect with other founders, mentors and advisors to support you through your journey.

Community.virginstartup.org

Instagram

YouTube 

TikTok

Linkedin

Hosted by Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D, Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and Startup Mentor.

Luke started and scaled his disruptive food business, generating over £15M in sales delivering impactful products to more than 1 million customers. 

PACK'D originally launched with support and funding from Virgin StartUp and now Luke returns to support the next generation of founders as a Virgin StartUp Mentor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve been behind the scenes with some of the UK’s boldest business minds - who all happen to be Virgin StartUp Mentors — David Abrahamovitch (GRIND), Pip Murray (Pip & Nut), Olivia Jenkins (D. Louise), Andy McNulty (Touch Stay), Abi Selby (Spabreaks.com), and Alex Partridge (UniLad & LADBible) — to talk growth, grit, and the power that mentoring has had on their startup successes. 

The first episode drops this Wednesday, featuring viral media pioneer and host of the ADHD Chatter podcast, Alex Partridge.

Brought to you by Virgin StartUp

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.