The company’s purpose is reflected in its motto – “Eat. Sleep. #shoplocal. Repeat”
Initially working as a diving instructor abroad, Guy returned home to Norfolk when the Covid19 pandemic impacted the tourism industry. Once he was back where his roots are, Guy approached his friend Jake with the local shopping concept.
The two friends received guidance on how to start-up in business from Nwes advisor Ian Bird, thanks to the New Anglia Growth Programme. They continued to receive support via the Enabling Self-Employment programme, funded by the Community Renewal Fund (CRF).
We spoke to Guy and Jake to find out more about their start-up journey:
What does your business offer?
Surplush is an online supermarket that gives its customers the opportunity to shop for their groceries at multiple independent/artisan local businesses from Norwich market and beyond, all in one place.
If each of us spent £50 a year more on local businesses instead of chain stores, it would put an extra £3m a year into our economy, creating thousands more jobs.
Customers of Surplush get their produce delivered next-day with no minimum order, via an ingenious eco-friendly, inner-city delivery service using e-cargo bikes.
The company has also been appointed the official delivery partner for Norwich Market.
How did the support from Nwes assist you?
The support from NWES has been incredible, they have been there since day one from the idea phase, all the way to launch, and continue to support us with ideas and industry contacts. For us, having an experienced business advisor to lean on for support has been extremely valuable, also having that outside opinion on matters makes a huge difference. A big shoutout goes to our advisor Ian Bird for always being there, whether it’s by email or a phone call.
What has been the highlight of starting your own business?
Receiving our first order is always the highlight of starting a business. You can finally see all the hard work paying off and the idea becoming a reality. We also work with lots of local independent businesses, so getting to meet new and interesting people has been great.
What is the one thing you wish you would have known sooner on your journey?
From a technical point of view, we certainly wish that we’d set up our payment processing system sooner, as the journey to get each supplier on boarded has taken some time, pushing back launch dates. However, we got there in the end, and we’re now all happy with the fully automated process.
What are your plans over the coming year?
Over the next 12 months we have plans to get another e-cargo bike on the road to increase the amount of deliveries we can do in a day. Also to increase our product range by working with even more independent businesses, and in the long-term potentially take our business model to other cities across the UK.
If you’d like to find out more about Surplush, visit their website or their Instagram page.
If you would like to begin your own business journey just like Guy and Jake, call us on 01603 227840 or use the live chat on the bottom right of your screen, and a member of the team will be more than happy to talk you through the support available.