<< Back to eventsSweet Nothings - The importance of brandingThis event is fully bookedColin Cather, Co-founder Burnt Sugar Tuesday 25 May 10, 11:45 - 14:00
The Oxford Centre, 333 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7PL
Group: Central Oxford
Tel: 01865 554719
Cost: £22.25 (Non-members pay £27.25) In search of something less emerald and less island-y, Colin first left Northern Ireland to study Economics at Southampton, the furthest place in the UK from Belfast that his ruler stretched to. Luckily for him, it was also the chosen university of his wife-in-waiting, Justine, whom he met in Freshers’ Week, and who has put up with him ever since.
On graduation, Colin attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and joined the Royal Irish Rangers. For the next seven years he dodged most conflicts (except a stint back in Northern Ireland), and had a wonderful time, leaving as a Captain and with a sense that there was even more fun to be had in civvy street.
Going corporate, though, was not to be the right path: after another seven years in Unilever, managing a progressive HR agenda for two large factories became an exercise in damage-control with Trade Unions while large-scale restructuring [i.e. redundancies] took place.
 Looking for the next thing, Colin discovered that Justine had been quietly growing a fudge-business called Burnt Sugar – in its infancy but already moving from the kitchen into a small factory – so he slipped from Unilever’s golden handcuffs and into the entrepreneurial [i.e. poverty-inducing] world of growing a small business.
Seven years on with Burnt Sugar – now distributed nationally in major supermarkets, and abroad as far as the US and Australia – Justine sold the business, bagging herself a job, but casting Colin into the cold, looking for his next seven-year thrill. Meanwhile, he is writing a novel, sings in a band, and reads stories to his boys using funny voices.
Colin will share his experience of growing a company for sale and the importance that branding played. www.burntsugar.co.uk | |
