93. The *Teashed

Founder: Jules Quinn
Founded: May 2011
Website: www.the-teashed.co.uk

With quality, artisan coffee now well-established as a trend in the UK, it was only a matter of time before the humble cup of tea underwent a similar gentrification. Newcastle-based young entrepreneur Jules Quinn started her design-led tea business The *Teashed on the very cusp of this trend, and has been reaping the rewards ever since. Targeted at a young, urban, affluent crowd, The *Teashed sources quality whole leaf tea from Sri Lanka, creating individually-designed and quirky packaging and selling it across the world.

Quinn’s commitment to a strong, unified brand is inherent in everything the start-up does, from the blends and design to a number of regular tea-themed events hosted by the company. Already with 150 suppliers in the UK – including John Lewis – and distributors in Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East, coping with spiralling demand would seem to be the biggest challenge The *Teashed could face in the future. Having organically generated revenues of £90,000 in 2013, with £30,000 profit, Quinn expects to see turnover of £250,000 this year as the business launches a ‘top secret’ new product in Waitrose. Watch this space!