The Small Business Sessions

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode of the series, we're joined by Dee Omole, founder of Dee's Basement, a confectionery studio specialising in nostalgia-inspired cakes and desserts.

Dee shares how a final-year university project at the University of Westminster became the foundation for Dee's Basement. 

She turned a pandemic‑lost pastry job into a thriving, community‑driven DIY cookie and dessert brand by leveraging affordable pop‑up spaces, relentless social‑media engagement, and small‑batch creativity to grow sustainably while maintaining personal control over her work.

What began as postal cookies and hand-painted madeleines has grown into a business that counts Pinterest and Liberty London among its brand partners.

Dee talks about building a loyal community on social media, learning to spot brands that want free work in exchange for "exposure," expanding from a home kitchen to a commercial kitchen, and writing her first cookbook with Quadrille, an imprint of Penguin.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• How Dee built an online following, partly through the extra visibility black-owned businesses gained during the Black Lives Matter movement
• Winning brand partnerships with the likes of Pinterest and Liberty London by pitching ideas rather than simply offering catering 
• Learning to spot brands offering "exposure" instead of payment while going viral with 12 million TikTok views from a video of her washing a fake display cake
• Running sold-out pop-up cafés in a neighbouring unit borrowed from her sister, and hosting small, intimate cake-decorating workshops
• Writing and publishing her cookbook, A Little of What You Fancy, with Quadrille, which was built around small-batch recipes designed to reduce waste for beginner bakers
• Learning to say no and protecting her wellbeing

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode of the series, we're joined by Usman Khalid, founder of Haven Coffee, an organic coffee brand and social enterprise with a mission to challenge false narratives about refugees in the UK.

Usman shares how his own experience as a refugee, his work with Counterpoints Arts and support from The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network helped him develop the idea for Haven Coffee.

He talks about building a business with no previous experience, starting with weekend market stalls, opening a small coffee shop and using coffee, barista training, comedy and visual art to create opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• How Usman's experience of gaining refugee status in 2015 shaped the idea behind Haven Coffee
• Why Haven Coffee is a business first, not a charity, even though social impact is central to its purpose
• Starting with weekend market stalls and coffee sales at events before opening a physical shop
• The reality of running a very small physical coffee shop and the challenge of trying to grow when income is limited
• How Usman created Laff-Uccino, a comedy event that trains refugees and asylum seekers in stand-up comedy
• Working with high-profile comedians including Nish Kumar and Ed Gamble to bring audiences to the events
• Providing barista training for refugees and asylum seekers so they can build practical skills for employment
• The role of supportive people, artists, comedians and local networks in helping Haven Coffee keep going

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode of the series, we're joined by Charlie Duckworth, founder of Community Sauna Baths, the not-for-profit social enterprise making sauna and cold plunge more affordable and accessible across London.

Charlie shares how the idea came together after the pandemic, why he wanted to create a regular, community-focused sauna experience outside of expensive gyms and spas, and how the business grew from a low-cost garden site into a five-site operation.

He also talks about operating as a community interest company, working with local authorities, funding outreach sessions and building a wider movement through the Community Sauna Network.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Why Charlie wanted to create a regular sauna experience that focused on heat, cold and social connection
• Setting up as a community interest company and why the not-for-profit model mattered from the start
• Finding a landlord willing to take a chance on the idea and starting in a low-fi garden space
• Funding new sites through pre-sale tickets, discounted sessions, small loans and reinvested income
• How Community Sauna Baths uses paid tickets to fund outreach, free sessions and local community work
• Working with the NHS through social prescribing and bringing people into sauna through GP referrals
• Charlie's ambition to bring community sauna facilities to every London borough by 2030

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode, we're joined by Jade Georgiou, co-founder of Hackney Barkers, the dog grooming business built around community, care and ethical products.

Jade shares how she left her job as a receptionist to train as a dog groomer, later opening her own salon in Hackney after spotting what felt like the perfect sign – an Irish Terrier in the window of the premises.

She talks about the realities of running a physical business, learning to set boundaries with customers, supporting other local dog businesses and building a salon where dogs, owners and staff feel properly looked after.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Why growing up in an entrepreneurial family made opening a salon feel like a natural next step
• Building the shop with family help and putting personal money, pride and energy into the space
• The early challenge of saying yes to every customer and learning to set proper business rules 
• Taking on the first employee and realising the business needed stronger processes
• Why community is central to Hackney Barkers, from referrals to sharing local businesses' services
• Offering free grooming for unhoused people's dogs and why Jade wants the business to help beyond paying customers
• How Jade chooses local and ethical suppliers that align with Hackney Barkers' ethos

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode, we're joined by Max Tobias, co-founder of The Dusty Knuckle, one of London's best-known bakery businesses.

Max shares how his experience working with young people in the youth justice system led to the idea for a bakery that could create real opportunities for people facing barriers to employment.

He talks about starting small, growing from a shipping container and building a business whose product has to stand on its own while the social impact sits at the heart of the company.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• How Max's background in youth intervention and youth justice shaped the idea for his business
• Using a local restaurant's pizza oven early in the morning to test the product and build demand
• How The Dusty Knuckle's youth employment programme supports young people coming from custody, care, insecure housing and other difficult circumstances
• Training the wider team to support young people without making the programme feel separate from the business
• What it's like running a bakery business in 2026, including rising costs, early starts and the pressure on hospitality
• Why Max wants the business to become a London community asset people genuinely care about

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode, we're joined by Nik Southern, founder of Grace & Thorn, the floristry business known for its wild, natural and rule-breaking approach to flowers and plants.

Nik shares how she moved from recruitment into floristry, built the business from her living room and grew it into one of London's best-known independent florists.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Why Nik left recruitment after 13 years and retrained as a florist in her mid-30s
• Starting Grace & Thorn from her living room and selling flowers through friends, pubs and word of mouth
•  Moving from a small basement studio to a Hackney Road shop as the business started to grow
• The challenges of running a high-street shop, from service charges to safety and rising pressure
• Why Nik closed the shop and moved to a more manageable studio model
• How Grace & Thorn built strong roots in Hackney's creative small business community
• The burnout, guilt and pressure that can come with running a creative business for nearly 15 years

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

This series explores the practical steps small businesses can take to grow and thrive – from improving energy efficiency and embracing sustainability to creating a lasting impact in their local communities.

In this episode, we're joined by Rob Wilson, co-founder of Toast Brewing, a brewery that makes craft beer using surplus bread.

Rob shares how Toast Brewing began as a project to raise awareness of food waste, why the team turned surplus bread into beer, and how the business has grown into a mission-led brand stocked by major retailers.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Why food waste is one of the biggest environmental issues the planet is facing
• How getting hold of surplus bread is, as Rob puts it, "depressingly easy"
• Why Toast donates 1% of revenue or 100% of profits to environmental charities
• Attracting investors including National Geographic and Heineken International
• Becoming a B Corp and why the process helped Toast improve its internal culture
• Expanding internationally through licensing, collaboration and local brewing partnerships
• Why Rob believes purpose-led businesses still need to focus hard on product quality

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.

Get free support now

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

This series explores the practical steps small businesses can take to grow and thrive – from improving energy efficiency and embracing sustainability to creating a lasting impact in their local communities.

In this first episode of the series, we're joined by Renée Elliott, founder of Planet Organic, the UK's first fully certified organic supermarket.

Renée shares how she launched Planet Organic in 1995, why values were at the heart of the business from day one and what happened when she returned years later to rescue it from administration.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Why Renée started the business to do something meaningful, not simply to make money
• The slow start after opening in November 1995, and why Renée feared the business might not survive
• What happened when Renée was pushed out of the business and had to reinvent herself as a mentor
• Why she returned in 2023 to help rescue Planet Organic from administration
• Rebuilding the business by reconnecting it with its original values, product standards and community
• Why community events, in-store expertise and team training matter in modern high street retail
• How Planet Organic has approached sustainability through core values and evolving, aspirational standards

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Powering Local Businesses

We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably. 

Get free support now

The Small Business Sessions, Enterprise Nation's podcast, is back for a ninth exciting series of inspiring entrepreneurial stories and expert business tips! The podcast is powered by the business.connected online training programme and our partner Vodafone Business.

Joining freelance journalist Dan Martin for the 10th and final episode in the series is Susan Allen, co-founder of sustainable period care products business Here We Flo.

Susan Allen and her co-founder Tara Chandra started Here we Flo after being disappointed at the lack of organic and sustainable personal care products in the market.

The business is now stocked in major retailers and has several big name advisers and investors on board. 

Topics discussed in the episode include:

• Running a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
• How Here We Flo got stocked in Sainsbury's, Boots, Whole Foods and more big retailers.
• Susan's brilliant advice for making a success of being stocked in big retailers.
• Securing advisers and investors from Graze, Charlotte Tilbury, Unilever, M&S, L'Oreal, and more.
• Becoming a B Corp.

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This episode is brought to you in partnership with Vodafone Business, the Nation’s Network*, as part of the business.connected campaign which helps small businesses embrace digital change and grow online.  

Access free training in a range of digital business areas, from online marketing to AI and smarter working at www.enterprisenation.com/businessconnected  

Listen to and watch previous podcast episodes at www.enterprisenation.com/podcast

*The Nation's Network: Vodafone - nation's most valuable brand, verified by Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands Report 2024, and supporting the nation since 1984 through to 2025's major summer events. See full verification of the substantiation: www.vodafone.co.uk/TNN 

The Small Business Sessions, Enterprise Nation's podcast, is back for a ninth exciting series of inspiring entrepreneurial stories and expert business tips! The podcast is powered by the business.connected online training programme and our partner Vodafone Business.

Joining freelance journalist Dan Martin for the ninth episode is Millie Flemington-Clare, founder of accessible and inclusive makeup brand Human Beauty.

Millie was born with a rare genetic condition called Cystinosis, which affects only 3,000 people worldwide. Her frustration with the lack of accessible products in the beauty industry inspired her to start her own brand. 

Human Beauty sells product designed for disabled and neurodivergent people, featuring anti-roll packaging, sensory-friendly formulas, and QR codes with audio descriptions.

Millie has won several awards and secured funding from a range of sources, including a £50,000 grant from Innovate UK and investment on BBC TV's Dragons' Den.

Beyond Human Beauty, Millie works as a design and accessibility consultant, helping brands and institutions build inclusion into their foundations.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Turning ideas into physical products.
• How Millie is shaking up the makeup industry. 
• How Millie won a £50,000 funding and her tips for successful grant applications.
• The impact of appearing on Dragons' Den.
• What more needs to be done to support disabled entrepreneurs.
• Why Millie's community is so vital to the business and how she engages them. 

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This episode is brought to you in partnership with Vodafone Business, the Nation’s Network*, as part of the business.connected campaign which helps small businesses embrace digital change and grow online.  

Access free training in a range of digital business areas, from online marketing to AI and smarter working at www.enterprisenation.com/businessconnected  

Listen to and watch previous podcast episodes at www.enterprisenation.com/podcast

*The Nation's Network: Vodafone - nation's most valuable brand, verified by Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands Report 2024, and supporting the nation since 1984 through to 2025's major summer events. See full verification of the substantiation: www.vodafone.co.uk/TNN