Leading research institution announces young British entrepreneurs driving UK economy

Hurun UK Under35s list reveals 62 of Britain’s leading young business leaders.

• 62 young British entrepreneurs under 35 announced pushing UK economy to new heights
• Entries have a combined value of more than £3.6 billion and between them created almost 2,500 jobs
• Well known names including Ella Mills, the foodie pioneer behind the Deliciously Ella brand, and former Manchester City footballer Reece Wabara named among Britain’s best young entrepreneurs
• Synthesia, the generative AI unicorn is the most valuable new company to appear in this year’s research
• Apparels & Accessories is the best-represented sector with 12 representatives
• A crop of eco-conscious entrepreneurs helping lead the transition to a low-carbon economy have built successful ventures from making satellites, electric vehicle batteries, cosmetics and the freight of frozen foods more environmentally sustainable
• London home to highest proportion of entrepreneurs featured at nearly 50% – a lower percentage than the 65% of last year
• Nearly 15% of entrepreneurs did not attend university
• Youngest entrepreneur included is 27 years old, Simmy Dhillon – who founded his food delivery service Simmer with his brother Jhai
• “The UK is a magnet for business founders” – Hurun chairman.

Global research group, The Hurun Research Institute today releases the prestigious Hurun UK Under35s 2024, recognising outstanding young entrepreneurs in the UK who are creating thousands of jobs and driving economic growth.

The 62 entries have together set up businesses with a combined value of more than £3.6 billion and between them created almost 2,500 jobs. The average value of the companies created is £69 million.

This year’s UK list features high profile entrepreneurs including Ella Mills, who began her Deliciously Ella food brand by selling snacks she devised to restore her own health after falling seriously ill in her early 20s. Mills earlier this year sold her plant-based food and wellness brand to the Swiss-based Hero Group. After sales of nearly £25m in the year leading up to the sale, Deliciously Ella should have fetched at least £50m.

Danish-born Victor Riparbelli and Steffen Tjerrild set up Synthesia, the generative AI platform famous for creating a video of David Beckham delivering an anti-malaria message in nine different languages. Synthesia was valued at more than $1bn by a fundraising last year.

Former professional footballer Reece Wabara, also included in the list, began his fashion label Manière De Voir as a side hustle while still playing for Manchester City. Wabara, who also represented England at U20 level, now has his flagship store on London’s Oxford Street and a recent stake sale valued his business at £56m.

The Apparels and Accessories sector is the best-represented part of the economy, accounting for 12 (20%) of this year’s Hurun Under35s. The successful founders from this sector include Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton, who have grown profits to nearly £6m at their false eye lashes outfit Tatti Lashes over the past year. Tiplady and Barton have said they have just four GCSEs between them.

Former model Jess Hunt and Jenna Meek founded Refy in 2020. Profits at their Manchester-based cosmetics brand climbed to nearly £9m last year.

Seven (11.3%) of this year’s 62 entries operate in the food and beverages world. Jack Scott and Alex Wright are expected to generate sales of around £35m this year at Dash Water, their supplier of flavoured drinks made using “wonky” fruit and vegetables considered unsuitable for restaurants and grocers because of their shape.

The composition of this year’s UK Under 35s list contrasts strongly with the Hurun UK Under 30 list, which was dominated by the biotech sector. Only two entries in the UK’s Under 35 list come from the biotech world. There were 14 in the UK’s Under 30 list.

Hurun’s UK U35 research is also less London-centric than the Hurun UK 30 list. Two thirds of the younger list involved businesses based in the UK’s capital – compared to less than half in the Under 35s list.

The transition to a low-carbon economy is providing business opportunities for eco-conscious entrepreneurs. Aleix Megias Homar is one of the founders of Open Cosmos, a developer of environmentally-sustainable satellites that last year raised $50m of investment.

Charles Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward hope refillable bottles sold by their cosmetics brand Wild will help banish single-use plastic containers from bathrooms. The pair’s turnover last year reached nearly £50m.

Echion Technologies, a Cambridge University spinout, has developed more sustainable batteries for electric vehicles. Founders Alex Groombridge and Jean de La Verpilliere last year raised investment valuing the business at £133m. Michael Lowe, meanwhile, co-founded Sunswap, a venture working to decarbonise the delivery of chilled and frozen food. The Surrey-based venture last year raised £17m of funding.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun report chairman and chief researcher, said: “Building a business large enough to appear in our Under35s list takes enormous skill, creativity and determination. It’s very important we recognise the achievements of these entrepreneurs. Britain’s economy urgently needs more of these ambitious people who want to grow truly big businesses, employing people not by the dozen but by the hundreds or even thousands.

“The strong number of entrepreneurs building successful ventures by helping the shift towards a low-carbon economy speaks volumes about the profound and positive impact good businesses can have on all our lives.

“There are those who protest about climate change by throwing paint, disrupting the lives of others or committing acts of vandalism. But our research showcases the scientists,  entrepreneurs and other talented people who have some of the real solutions to climate change – and are simultaneously creating jobs and contributing to the public finances.”

For the first time, Hurun’s UK Under35s list features founders as well as “next generation” business leaders delivering strong growth in their family’s businesses. The nine entries in this category include the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, who inherited stewardship of his family’s global property empire at the age of 25 after the premature death of his father.

Michael Murray, the chief executive of Frasers Group, also makes the cut. Murray is the son-in-law of billionaire Mike Ashley and now oversees a group encompassing Sports Direct, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles and an array of other retailers and sportswear brands.

Other “next generation” entries include Timothy Goodwin, the chairman of the industrial group Goodwin PLC, and India Rose James, the property heiress and granddaughter of Soho legend Paul Raymond.

London is home to the highest number of entrepreneurs with 30 of the business leader’s ventures in the capital, amounting to nearly 50%.10 entrepreneurs are based in the South East of England.

Hoogewerf added, “London and the South East are clearly hothouses for young entrepreneurs. World-leading universities, a strong investment community and a cosmopolitan culture have no doubt helped attract and energise founders. We know around a quarter of those on our UK lists have chosen to come here to start our businesses – the UK really is a magnet for founders.”

“It is disappointing we have no entries from the North East or Wales this year. The new Labour government has vowed to ‘kick-start’ economic growth and encouraging young entrepreneurs out in the UK’s regions would seem a priority.”

Six of the 62 business leaders featured attended Cambridge University for either undergraduate or post-graduate study, more than any other university. Oxford was the second best-represented higher education institution with four alumni in this year’s Hurun Under35s list. There were also three each from Edinburgh and University College London.

Eight – or 13% – of those who appeared did not attend university. This was exactly the same percentage as in the 2023 research.

The average age of the Hurun Under35s entrepreneurs featured is 32 years and two months. The youngest at 27 years old is Simmy Dhillon. He founded the food delivery service Simmer with his brother Jhai while at university. Their turnover is expected to reach £30m this year.

Often these young business leaders came from humble backgrounds. Paige Williams was working as a make-up assistant in Selfridge’s when she launched P. Louise. Her grandmother, who worked as a cleaner, had lent her £20,000 to get her cosmetics brand up and running. P. Louise’s revenues are expected to exceed £65m this year.

Some of the UK founders by Hurun have already sold their companies for large sums. Sami Bouremoum was one of the entrepreneurs who set up Hofy. The home-office assembly service was launched when the pandemic began and has now been sold for around £100m.

For a founder to appear in one of Hurun’s Under35s lists a person would usually need to have either founded or co-founded a company considered to be worth at least US$50 million – a standard benchmark across the world. “Next generation” entries are usually required to manage investments or revenues of US$100 million to qualify.

The 2024 Hurun UK Under35s are part of a family of more than 3,000 young entrepreneurs from five countries, including China, India, US and Canada. The Hurun Uth series starts with the Under30s, and moves through to the Under35s and Under40s.

Only 18 of this year’s Hurun UK Under 35s appeared in the previous two editions of the Hurun UK U30s research. These alumni included: Jess Hunt of Refy, Victoria Prew of the online fashion rental service Hurr and George Melhuish, the founder of Hermeq – the building supplies firm previously known as Safe Fence.

Hoogewerf said: “It’s fascinating to see which of the Hurun Under 30s graduate to the U35s list. It’s clearly a lot more challenging to build a business worth $50m than one worth $10m. I am always impressed to see those who start in our Under 30s before ultimately earning a place on our Under 40s list, having grown their company to be worth more than $100m.”

Last year’s Hurun UK Under 35s list was the inaugural edition and featured many well known entrepreneurs and founders of unicorns, including Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan of Gymshark as well as Dan and Melanie Marsden, the husband and wife team behind the online retailer Lounge Underwear.

There were more than 20 founders of $1 billion companies in last year’s Hurun UK research, many who can expect to feature in the first edition of the Hurun UK Under 40s list in due course.

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