Phoebe Asks

Charlie Bigham's

I’m sitting in Park Royal, at Bigham’s HQ, the man behind those gourmet, premium meals. Not to be confused with the plastic, fork pricked "ready meals" that get shoved in a microwave and gobbled up in under 60 seconds. Charlie has thoughtfully crafted his recipes to be cooked in a hot oven and enjoyed around a candle lit dining room table. He redefined what eating at home could look like in the 90s, with his introduction of restaurant quality ingredients. In October 2025, the entrepreneur boldly launched a new range of “brasserie meals” - three times the price of his traditional offering (£29.95) which caused an uproar amongst left wing journalists, calling his food "tory slop". The range includes a Beef wellington,  Venison bourguignon, Salmon wellington, Confit duck, and Coq Au Vin. This spring, Bighams launched a range of Asian pan fried noodle dishes (Chicken Pad Thai, Singapore King Prawn Laksa, a Teriyaki Chicken Yakisoba and Chilli Beef Noodles) selling at the humble price of £6.95. Perhaps marking a eureka..."I hear you, we need to reduce our prices" moment?! In a time where restaurants, pubs, bars are barely making profit, 30 year olds struggle to pay their monthly rent, Ozempic and Mounjaro jabs are shredding waist lines, and Gen z is far more inclined to be isolating and scrolling on hinge than having sex, I am here today to explore how Bigham’s brand remains ACHINGLY RELEVANT IN 2026…and specifically how he speaking to my generation of consumers.

Amelia Christie Miller: Spilling the beans

I’m sitting in Gràcia, Barcelona with Amelia Christie Miller, Founder of the BOLD BEAN CO. I wanted to find out how Amelia grew a £7M+ brand in 5 years… from jarred beans. A supermarket aisle, typically associated with war rationing (tinned sweetcorn, Heinz baked beans, spam, tinned tuna) has been redefined and MADE SEXY by the Bold Bean Co. An unprecedented transformation of canned goods! In the era of Yotam Ottolenghi-inspired, plant-rich cooking, Amelia has turned humble legumes into something indulgent and elevated: melt in your mouth, tender heirloom beans worth obsessing over. She is an author of …."Full of Beans: Delicious Beany Recipes to Obsess Over" (2025): An instant Sunday Times bestseller and "Bold Beans: Recipes to get your Pulse Racing":  She launched the business in 2021 and is now stocked in all major retailers. The brand is B CORP certified, won Grocer’s start up of the year 2023, and most recently featured on Dragons Den.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Florence Cherruault: The Pickle House

From her Hackney flat to Virgin Atlantic airlines. 8 years of graft paid off for Florence Cherruault. She built a category-defining drinks brand… while navigating motherhood. Vanity Fair described it as “The Best Bloody Mary Base Known to Man.” All natural. Vegan. And made on a farm in Suffolk. Florence had the idea whilst in New York. She tasted a Pickleback shot (whiskey followed by a pickle brine chaser) and was obsessed. She brought the concept back to London and started experimenting with recipes in her kitchen sink. She felt mad but kept going. Pickle juice and Bloody Mary's are now seriously trendy. Carlos Alcaraz famously drinks pickle juice to cure muscle cramps... full of electrolytes and salts to improve hydration...Florence has tapped in a huge wellness trend. Dua Lipa enjoys pickle brine with Coke Cola and Jalapeños. In this episode, we unpick start-up mentality (the importance of being stubborn), pregnancy and entrepreneurship, how to keep going when the world thinks you are mad for pickling juice and spiced tomato mixer in your Mum's garden shed. 2-3% of female founders secure investment. Florence reveals the tribulations behind getting funding. Often met with a mansplaining and criticism. Listen now to this story of sheer graft and tenacity. Stockists include: Waitrose, Wholefoods, Virgin Atlantic, Guacho Restaurants, GRIND, Firmdale hotels, Côte Brasseries, Ottolenghi, Belvedere Group, Pophams, The Arts Club, Avanti Trains. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Alex Grimley: Turning plates into power

Grimley speaks candidly about the realities of building four hospitality businesses from the ground up, with ZERO SAVINGS OR INVESTMENT.  He didn’t start in a boardroom. He started in the heat of the kitchen. Grimley entered professional kitchens at just 17, training in the UK under celebrated chefs including Jean-Christophe Novelli, Marco Pierre White, and Tony Fleming. Those formative years in London’s demanding culinary environment laid the foundations for a career defined by discipline, precision and ambition. His career later took him across the globe, with roles at renowned destinations including Jumeirah Burj Al Arab in Dubai, a private island position at One&Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives, and ultimately to the Caribbean as Executive Chef at Carlisle Bay in Antigua. In 2010, Grimley made the pivotal leap from chef to entrepreneur, founding Rocks Group and opening its flagship restaurant, Sheer Rocks, at Cocobay Resort. Perched dramatically on Antigua’s west coast cliffs, Sheer Rocks quickly gained international recognition for its Mediterranean-inspired tapas, tasting menus, craft cocktails and iconic plunge pools.  Over the following decade, Rocks Group launched Catherine’s Café, a revitalised French-inspired beachfront restaurant at Pigeon Point, English Harbour, Rokuni, with Asian-inspired cuisine and stunning design at Sugar Ridge, and most recently Fat Urchin, a marina-side pub and coastal kitchen in Jolly Harbour, pints and beer battered grouper fish. “Generating revenue in hospitality is one thing,” Grimley explains in the episode. “Extracting profit is another entirely. He also discusses revitalising Catherine’s Café while preserving its legacy, relocating Rokuni to allow the concept to grow, and expanding the Rocks Group portfolio with new projects such as Fat Urchin. The episode explores themes of leadership, reinvention, calculated risk and the transition from chef to CEO. “This isn’t just a story about food,” says host Phoebe Averdieck. “It’s about how Grimley turned discipline into desire, service into strategy and plates into power".  Episode 06 of Phoebe Asks featuring Alex Grimley is available now on all major podcast platforms. For media inquiries or interviews, contact: Rachel Smyth at ⁠rachel@itsrocksgroup.com⁠. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Perry Haydn Taylor: big fish

Perry Haydn Taylor is a genius. The Founder & Chief Stoker at big fish. big fish® is a 30 year old climate considerate brand design and marketing consultancy that helps innovate and grow brands of the future. Perry has worked across a cornucopia of brands...Biscuiteers, Cornishware, Sofa.com, Pooky lights, Boden, Howdah, Tyrrells, Charlie Bighams, KALLO, Clipper Tea, Gü, Giovanni Rana, Crosta Mollica, Yeo Valley. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.