51. Pip & Nut

Founder: Pip Murray
Founded: January 2013 (launched January 2015)
Website: www.pipandnut.com

What started as a pre or post-training snack for keen runner Pip Murray soon blossomed into a business when she spotted a gap in the nut butter market, with many brands containing unhealthy palm oils and refined sugars and their healthy counterparts sacrificing good branding.

Her solution was Startups Awards Crowdfunded Business of the Year nominee Pip & Nut – a range of all natural nut butters including peanut, almond, coconut almond and honey and cinnamon cashew, that come in jars or on-the-go squeezy pouches. From the beginnings of an idea working out of a garden shed (Murray won a competition to escape the city and launch her dream business), in just 15 months, the brand has seen itself stocked in 2,300 stores across the UK and Ireland. Current stockists include high end stores like Selfridges and Wholefoods to Sainsbury’s, Holland and Barrett, Virgin Active and Gymbox.

And Pip & Nut has big ambitions for the coming months with the launch of two new flavours and a target of increasing the range in Sainsbury’s from four products in 473 stores to 11 in more than 600 by June 2016 – a deal it claims could pull in £2.5m annually. In the second half of the year the brand is looking to start exporting to some European territories, which should see it reach a total of £3.3m in turnover by the end of 2016.