Meet the Cheshire woman who went from single teen mum to £15m business owner

Kirsty Henshaw with some of her  allergy-friendly food
-Credit: (Image: Kirsty Henshaw / SWNS)


At 19 Kirsty Henshaw found herself as single mum - and today she is overseeing a £15m business empire. And the 39-year-old, of Cheshire, appeared on Dragon's Den as her business gathered pace.

Now she's lifted the lid on the 'blood, sweat and tears' which have gone into the multi-million pound empire. LancsLive reports how Kirsty had grown up in a working-class household in Preston and fell pregnant at 19.

As a single mum she would find out her son Jacob suffered with severe allergies to nuts and dairy. To help him out the 39-year-old, who now lives in Hale, created a dairy-free ice cream recipe from her tiny kitchen - the start of her multi-million pound idea.

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The following year she took it onto Dragon's Den - and got a £65k investment from Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne. The brand, Kirsty's, expanded into a range of 'free-from' ready meals and she bought the Dragons out of their investment, three years into the business.

Fifteen years after first launching, Kirsty's is reportedly among the UK's top free-from ready meal brands - worth £15 million. The single mum-of-two said: "I had always been entrepreneurial but we didn't have much money growing up. After having Jacob I realised the free-from sections of supermarkets were dull - back then there was nothing."

Kirsty Henshaw with some of her  allergy-friendly food
Kirsty Henshaw has created a multi-million business -Credit:Kirsty Henshaw / SWNS

"I wanted to create something to feel I wasn't alone in this allergy world - I made something Jacob could eat and could also benefit others. When I went on Dragon's Den I was only making ice cream but I had ideas for a much bigger collection of products.

"My friends advised me not to go on the show but I wanted to prove people wrong - and it ended up being the making of the business. Investment enabled me to expand - and now Kirsty's is stocked in almost every supermarket."

"It's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears but I've never given up hope - now I just want to keep growing."

Now 18, Kirsty found out how severe Jacob's allergies were when he was just six-months-old. He went into anaphylaxis as a result of Kirsty kissing him on the mouth an hour after snacking on peanuts.

However, Kirsty said at the time, the selection of allergy-friendly options in supermarkets was "dull" and it felt isolating. The mum worked late in a bar to pay rent on a tiny two-bed house for them, while raising her son alone as a teen mum.

In her limited free time she began experimenting with making free-from foods in her tiny kitchen of her two-bed home. When Jacob was three, after getting herself a budget ice cream maker from Argos for £30, Kirsty developed a tasty dairy-free recipe.

She thought others would benefit too and started a business with a small manufacturer to sell it in local health food shops - funding it by picking up extra bar shifts at work. After working out a business plan, she took the idea onto Dragon's Den in 2010 - and secured £65k of investment.

Kirsty added: "I was naive, and I was so nervous. But because I did everything in the business myself, from finance to pitching and marketing, I knew the answers to all of their questions.

"And that investment from Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne, in exchange for 15 per cent each, was the making of my business."

Jacob was born with severe allergies to nuts and dairy
Kirsty Henshaw showcasing her product -Credit:Kirsty Henshaw / SWNS

Over the following years the brand moved away from ice cream and into frozen and chilled ready meals, pizzas and eventually desserts. After three years she was able to buy the Dragons out of their investments.

Kirsty's products are already seen on the shelves of supermarkets including Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrison's, Tesco, Nisa and Co-op. She said: "Now, we are known to be a free-from brand but we're not just sold to people with allergies."

The brand now has a factory in Yorkshire, where 90 per cent of their products are made, and they are working towards becoming carbon-neutral. The business has some 60 employees now - including her son Jacob, the inspiration behind the whole company.

Kirsty, also mum to Sophie, six, said: "Sales are £15million a year, and we're working towards bringing that up to £25million in the next two years. For me, the learning over the last few years has been huge - I think I could write a business degree from everything I've learnt.

"I never really stop and think about how far we've come, but I'm very pleased. It hasn't been easy. But I've never given up hope and I want to show my children what you can achieve if you work hard.

"I just want to normalise free-from food - that actually tastes good and is healthy. It's something that can be part of your diet, allergies or not."

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