Martyn’s path to entrepreneurship & wanting to stand out from the crowd started early. “I remember studying for A-levels at 6th form in 1984 – not having a clue what I wanted to do with my life. All my mates were going to go off to university – I just thought that was a waste of 2 or 3 years of my life. My dad worked for the largest employer in the area – a foundry making parts for cars and planes. A junior management role came up. I thought – this is it – I can get out, get started and make some money. I ditched the A-levels and got the job. My mates thought I was crazy!”
Martyn progressed quickly but soon felt restrained; “I had been head-hunted (not bad for a 22 year old!) for a job with Massey Ferguson (the world’s largest agricultural tractor manufacturer) – after 12 months I had made a mark and was told I was earmarked as a future director of the company in the UK and offered a place on a ‘fast-track’ development programme – what this really meant was I was going to have to spend a tedious spell in every department in the company. This was when I realised working for someone else was not for me.”
Martyn then became self-employed and set up a consulting firm advising small businesses on how to gain the Quality ‘Kite Mark’ under the then government’s Enterprise Initiative scheme. He grew this business rapidly winning government and blue chip contracts along the way as well as opening a satellite office in the US. The firm had 9 full time consultants and reached a turnover of £0.5m but after 4 years he realised he was becoming restless and felt un-fulfilled; “We’d done really well but I knew this was just the start for me - I wanted to build a fast growth business with a product and an original idea.”
With £50K & a blank sheet of paper Martyn set about looking for his big idea – a trip to Manhattan in the summer of 1996 gave him his ‘Eureka moment’. He stumbled across convenience stores that sold huge numbers of cups of coffee every day. Whilst coffee bars were starting to become fashionable at the time, Martyn’s idea was to be able to sell coffee-to-go from the UK’s equivalent of US convenience stores – our thousands of corner shops. “I had read an article about a company that put photocopiers in to newsagents – they supplied and looked after the kit and the shopkeeper kept a percentage of the revenue it generated. The shop would also benefit from people buying other things when they came in to make a photocopy. I liked the business model and wondered if I could do the same with coffee machines and cups of coffee.”
“It was a hard slog but the breakthrough came when I switched to using real espresso machines that would make a genuine shot of espresso from fresh beans and steam and foam fresh milk. At the same time I increased the drink price. People started to come in just to buy my coffee – I knew then that I was on my way.”
His euphoria was shortlived however – despite having proven his idea he had run out of money. He was close to calling it a day but was determined not to give up. He had connected with a business angel group who were keen to give him a chance to present his case. “The call came and it was good news but too late – they wanted me to present to their members – but in 6 months! I told them I’d be bust by then. I was determined I wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer.”
His persistence paid off. He raised £100k seed capital and secured a Small Firms Loan for £90K. Martyn could breathe again.
The business was based around a very simple idea. “I just thought – people love great coffee but they’ve got to go find a coffee bar - if I can sell a premium quality cup of coffee – as good as from a coffee bar – but self-serve and from loads of places with people on the move – that has got to work. It was about taking an established product to new locations – wherever people are day to day – like petrol stations and convenience stores.”
After another 2 years of hard work refining the product and the business model, Coffee Nation finally took off in the summer of 2000 with £4m of venture capital backing.
Coffee Nation today:
The business has grown rapidly and now sells about one million drinks per month from its self-serve gourmet coffee stations. Coffee Nation can be found in Welcome Break & Moto motorway service areas, Tesco Express, Sainsbury’s Locals & Somerfield convenience stores and Esso petrol forecourts.
Coffee Nation is often the no.1 selling product by units sold per retail location. Retailers benefit not just from a share of the revenue from coffee sales but also increased footfall and increased sales of related products that go well with coffee such as bakery and sandwiches.
External Recognition & Awards
Coffee Nation’s success, innovation and management team have been recognised on a number of occasions through various awards:
2006 Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Fast Track Awards
Winner of the Innovation Award & runner up of the Best Use of Technology Award
2006 Real Business Hot 100
Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK, ranked no. 100
2005 Real Business Hot 100
Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK, ranked no. 21
2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
Martyn Dawes – Entrepreneur of the Year - South Region, Consumer Products & Services
2005 Martyn was invited to attend the launch of the All Party Parliamentary Committee on Entrepreneurship
2005 Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK
Ranked no. 13
2003 ‘Sage’ Business Awards, in association with The Daily Telegraph
Martyn Dawes - Best Business Leader (to 25 employees category)
2003 ‘Orange’ Small is Beautiful Award
Martyn Dawes - Best Demonstration of Entrepreneurial Passion
Martyn is featured in ‘My Big Idea – 30 Successful Entrepreneurs reveal how they found inspiration’ by Rachel Bridge, in association with The Sunday Times
Martyn & Coffee Nation have been featured in articles in The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Sunday Express, The Express, The Financial Times, The Mail on Sunday & Esquire Magazine.
What Next?
Martyn is now non-executive with Coffee Nation and is working on the launch of his next business. His new challenge is to be a successful serial entrepreneur!
Martyn progressed quickly but soon felt restrained; “I had been head-hunted (not bad for a 22 year old!) for a job with Massey Ferguson (the world’s largest agricultural tractor manufacturer) – after 12 months I had made a mark and was told I was earmarked as a future director of the company in the UK and offered a place on a ‘fast-track’ development programme – what this really meant was I was going to have to spend a tedious spell in every department in the company. This was when I realised working for someone else was not for me.”
Martyn then became self-employed and set up a consulting firm advising small businesses on how to gain the Quality ‘Kite Mark’ under the then government’s Enterprise Initiative scheme. He grew this business rapidly winning government and blue chip contracts along the way as well as opening a satellite office in the US. The firm had 9 full time consultants and reached a turnover of £0.5m but after 4 years he realised he was becoming restless and felt un-fulfilled; “We’d done really well but I knew this was just the start for me - I wanted to build a fast growth business with a product and an original idea.”
With £50K & a blank sheet of paper Martyn set about looking for his big idea – a trip to Manhattan in the summer of 1996 gave him his ‘Eureka moment’. He stumbled across convenience stores that sold huge numbers of cups of coffee every day. Whilst coffee bars were starting to become fashionable at the time, Martyn’s idea was to be able to sell coffee-to-go from the UK’s equivalent of US convenience stores – our thousands of corner shops. “I had read an article about a company that put photocopiers in to newsagents – they supplied and looked after the kit and the shopkeeper kept a percentage of the revenue it generated. The shop would also benefit from people buying other things when they came in to make a photocopy. I liked the business model and wondered if I could do the same with coffee machines and cups of coffee.”
“It was a hard slog but the breakthrough came when I switched to using real espresso machines that would make a genuine shot of espresso from fresh beans and steam and foam fresh milk. At the same time I increased the drink price. People started to come in just to buy my coffee – I knew then that I was on my way.”
His euphoria was shortlived however – despite having proven his idea he had run out of money. He was close to calling it a day but was determined not to give up. He had connected with a business angel group who were keen to give him a chance to present his case. “The call came and it was good news but too late – they wanted me to present to their members – but in 6 months! I told them I’d be bust by then. I was determined I wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer.”
His persistence paid off. He raised £100k seed capital and secured a Small Firms Loan for £90K. Martyn could breathe again.
The business was based around a very simple idea. “I just thought – people love great coffee but they’ve got to go find a coffee bar - if I can sell a premium quality cup of coffee – as good as from a coffee bar – but self-serve and from loads of places with people on the move – that has got to work. It was about taking an established product to new locations – wherever people are day to day – like petrol stations and convenience stores.”
After another 2 years of hard work refining the product and the business model, Coffee Nation finally took off in the summer of 2000 with £4m of venture capital backing.
Coffee Nation today:
The business has grown rapidly and now sells about one million drinks per month from its self-serve gourmet coffee stations. Coffee Nation can be found in Welcome Break & Moto motorway service areas, Tesco Express, Sainsbury’s Locals & Somerfield convenience stores and Esso petrol forecourts.
Coffee Nation is often the no.1 selling product by units sold per retail location. Retailers benefit not just from a share of the revenue from coffee sales but also increased footfall and increased sales of related products that go well with coffee such as bakery and sandwiches.
External Recognition & Awards
Coffee Nation’s success, innovation and management team have been recognised on a number of occasions through various awards:
2006 Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Fast Track Awards
Winner of the Innovation Award & runner up of the Best Use of Technology Award
2006 Real Business Hot 100
Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK, ranked no. 100
2005 Real Business Hot 100
Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK, ranked no. 21
2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
Martyn Dawes – Entrepreneur of the Year - South Region, Consumer Products & Services
2005 Martyn was invited to attend the launch of the All Party Parliamentary Committee on Entrepreneurship
2005 Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK
Ranked no. 13
2003 ‘Sage’ Business Awards, in association with The Daily Telegraph
Martyn Dawes - Best Business Leader (to 25 employees category)
2003 ‘Orange’ Small is Beautiful Award
Martyn Dawes - Best Demonstration of Entrepreneurial Passion
Martyn is featured in ‘My Big Idea – 30 Successful Entrepreneurs reveal how they found inspiration’ by Rachel Bridge, in association with The Sunday Times
Martyn & Coffee Nation have been featured in articles in The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Sunday Express, The Express, The Financial Times, The Mail on Sunday & Esquire Magazine.
What Next?
Martyn is now non-executive with Coffee Nation and is working on the launch of his next business. His new challenge is to be a successful serial entrepreneur!
At 22 Martyn realised that working for someone else was not for him, and so began his path to entrepreneurship. After initially setting up a consulting firm advising small businesses, he became restless. With a clean slate, he travelled to Manhattan and found his inspiration, an idea that has grown into the hugely successful ‘Coffee Nation’. Now a non-executive of the firm, his unwavering persistence is truly remarkable and his new challenge is to be a successful serial entrepreneur.
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