EF News
Entrepreneurialism has been instilled in Angus Thirlwell from a young age. Coming from a successful, innovative family, he has very much come into his own as the co-founder of the UK’s premier chocolate brand.
He’s experienced it all in business, including a well-documented IP battle with a supermarket chain, enroute to an appearance, this year in the prestigious Sunday Times Rich List.
Understandably, he has a massive passion for chocolate; developing Hotel Chocolat with business partner, Peter Harris, while in the midst of the ‘great renaissance of chocolate’, in 2004.
“A lot of people think that it (chocolate) makes you fat, makes you spotty and is something only for special occasions, but what we want to do is make everybody realise that you can enjoy chocolate as part of a sustainable and healthy lifestyle every day. Sometimes three times a day, if necessary.
“I have a passion for chocolate; it is such a creative area to work in. You can change the shape of it, the flavour or make it into a gift. It has the ability to excite people and is a very seductive medium to work with.”
This lifelong passion has resulted in great success for Angus and business partner, Peter Harris, since 2004 when Hotel Chocolat was established. Posting sales of just over £100m, it floated for just shy of £200m and is now worth more than £400m, with 105 company-owned shops.
Starting out in business was always going to happen for Angus. His entrepreneurial personality and tendencies – as well as an interest in the confectionery industry, for that matter – have always been there. His father, Edwin, was one of the early directors of Mr Whippy ice cream, and the man behind Prontaprint, which he built up to 500 locations.
“He’s always been an inspiration, and it’s been great to have been around him.”
Edwin’s roots can be linked to the North East, as the first Prontaprint store was on Collingwood Street, Newcastle. Hotel Chocolat is equally committed to the region and wider North, with stores in Newcastle city centre, the Metro Centre, Teesside Retail Park, and recent openings in Sunderland and Carlisle.
Angus has been in business for more than 20 years; first establishing a mint marketing company, the ‘successor to the corporate pen’, before entering the fast-delivered chocolate gifts market. The creation of a popular chocolate subscription club followed – today with more than 70,000 members – and the ‘Hotel Chocolat’ brand was formed.
The name came to Angus after living in France, as a result of the country’s pronunciation of the world ‘chocolate’. The ‘Hotel’ aspect embodies a promise of “escapism, which can be an emotional place and together with great chocolate, it can engage anyone.”
“This knitted the entire business together, and it was then when we rolled out our physical store format – having only been an internet only brand.”
Hotel Chocolat’s products are made up of the finest ingredients, with an emphasis on cocoa, as opposed to sugar, unlike much mass-produced “chocolate” on the market today. Thirlwell is passionate about chocolate, religiously eating at least 50g every single day.
“Chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you’re falling in love. PEA encourages your brain to release feel-good endorphins. But not all chocolate is created equal. Flip it over and check the ingredients. If cocoa is not the number one ingredient, it’s not chocolate, it’s confectionery. “
It is an international brand, and much more than just a manufacturer of chocolate. The bulk of its stores are in the UK, with three in Denmark, as well as a cocoa cuisine restaurant in London, and a major e-commerce presence. Perhaps, though, the jewel in the company’s crown is the boutique hotel located on the grounds of its Rabot Estate cocoa plantation, in Saint Lucia.
“We knew that in order to make the best chocolate, we had to get stuck in at the roots. So we bought a cocoa plantation and learnt the art of cocoa growing. Our mission is to balance the authenticity of being a cacao grower, with the urban luxury of hedonistic chocolate. This means our chocolate has more cocoa and less sugar, even our milk and white grades. We never go lower than 40% cocoa. It also means that we’ve been able to start our own Engaged Ethics programmes in both Saint Lucia and Ghana. Engaged Ethics is a direct initiative to create sustainable cocoa growing communities. It differs from most other 'trading fairly' programmes as it goes beyond simply writing out a cheque and standing back. It’s a roll-up-the-sleeves, take risks, long-term approach, which has led to a remarkable set of results so far. It’s also changed the lives of cocoa growers and wraps into environmental matters, surrounding energy and packaging. It is a force for good.”
Little by little, Angus built the company up over the years into a multi-channel operation, with the key to the success deriving from the creation of a strong brand and protecting it.
“Any success we’ve had is down to creating a strong brand, sticking to our core principles of originality, authenticity and ethics and never wavering. It’s about the integrity of Hotel Chocolat, which filters down to the products, the team and our reputation...”
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but only to a certain extent, in Angus’ eyes. His company was embroiled in a legal battle earlier this year with a well-known supermarket chain over the creation of chocolate slabs, very much similar to Hotel Chocolat’s design registered products.
The supermarket swiftly ceased production of the imitation slabs and Hotel Chocolat offered a complimentary “upgrade” from the “sugar-laden imposters” to its own cocoa-rich, indulgent originals. The only proviso was that there had to be at least half of the ‘totally coincidentally very similar’ bar left, after which it could be taken into any Hotel Chocolate store and exchanged for the real thing.
“With any business, you have to protect your brand; otherwise people little by little will chip away what you’ve created. We’ll defend it on the beaches and landing strips!”
“We’ve had infractions right from the start. It isn’t as bad as, but it’s getting like the fashion business. It just goes to show how incredibly important IP protection is.”
Angus has big plans and aspirations for the company he co-founded and helped build to become the UK’s leading premium chocolate brand.
“My future plan is to grow Hotel Chocolat to be the world leader in premium chocolate. We’re the UK leader, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t get to that point.
“I’ve got the best job in the world – making people happy every day through the power of chocolate. I love it.”
