Rebecca Jeavons-Fellows, founder, the Maple Food Company

Age: 24

Works at: The Maple Food Company

Job Title: Founder

In 2013, having narrowly failed to land a job after completing an internship at Apple, the newly graduated but broke Jeavons-Fellows was forced to move out of her London flat and back to the family home. She decided to “take the plunge” and go it alone, starting up a business selling chocolate Nanaimo bars. To keep costs to a minimum she taught herself web and packaging design using online tutorials, then secured funding from friends, family and The Prince’s Trust. She says she was “determined to hand-make the bars with natural and first class ingredients to ensure a high-quality taste” in order to tap into the zeitgeist for affordable premium products. Her break came when she successfully delivered a 15-minute pitch at a Selfridges buyers event. The department store has been stocking the product for six months now. Sales show a stream of regular buyers, and it’s also being trialled in Costa Coffee.

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