The co-founder of Harry Specters describes why the award-winning chocolate firm was launched, its development, and how responsible finance through our member Foundation East contributed.
Shaz Shah is co-founder of Harry Specters, a business which makes lovingly handcrafted chocolates. Its products have won 22 Awards for their taste and quality.
It’s also a business with a mission: to offer paid employment to, and free training for, young people with autism.
“You can have a great business and also contribute to society,” says Shah. In this episode of the Responsible Finance podcast he covers:
- why the business was launched
- how it grew from a home-based operation to taking on premises
- where the name came from
- why chocolate-making, which requires specialised skills, offers great opportunities to people with autism
- funding the business’ development and growth through a mixture of grants, loan finance, equity, and “chocolate bonds”
- securing the first corporate customers
- the biggest challenges and opportunities, so far
Enjoy the podcast and visit www.harryschocs.co.uk to enjoy some chocolates.
Listen to episode 8 on iTunes, or download or click to play, below:
What next?
- Listen to Episodes 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 here or in iTunes.
- Please share the podcast, tell others about it, and ideally leave a rating or review on iTunes so other people can learn about the work and impact of responsible finance providers.
- Find your nearest responsible finance provider: www.findingfinance.org.uk
- More about the End High Cost Credit Alliance: www.the-alliance.org.uk
- And if you’re a responsible finance provider or a client and you’d like to put yourself forward to be on the show, get in touch – email podcast producer, Jamie Veitch.