100. Not Dogs

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Founders: Katie McDermott and Jane Yates
Founded: March 2014 (launched December 2016)
Website: www.notdogs.co.uk

Vegetarians, vegans, and meat-reducers will all know the struggle of trying to find meals that satisfy your fast food cravings and give you that much-needed ‘fix'.

Sharing in a longing for mouth-watering, innovative veggie food were best friends Kate McDermott and Jane Yates; the co-founders of vegetarian hot dog start-up Not Dogs.

Having begun to distrust meat, Birmingham-based duo McDermott; a meat-reducer, and vegetarian Yates; keen for “more tasty vegetarian options”, set about experimenting with unique toppings – such as nachos and salsa, and hummus and tomato – on Quorn bratwursts.

Quickly, the food entrepreneurs discovered that a meat-free hot dog was as delicious as it was good-quality and a business idea was born.

With months spent travelling up and down the country in a pop-up food truck, often stopping to have #SausageSelfies in their famous hot dog outfits, in December last year the pair opened up their first permanent Not Dogs residence at Birmingham's famous Bullring shopping centre and growth is now on the ascent.

Last month, we proudly announced that Not Dogs had won the December series of our esteemed Start-Up Series competition with Worth Capital, clinching £150,000 in equity funding. This investment will help fuel the launch of a second Not Dogs location in the near future.

Yates and McDermott's ultimate goal for Not Dogs? To become a “much loved household brand”:

“Our focus is on expanding the business while keeping standards high at all locations and continuing to excite our customers with new menu items and a touch of Not Dogs magic. One day, we’d like to see Not Dogs in every major city in the UK.” – News to make all veggie foodies rejoice!

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