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Sweet Taste of Success with Jo Fairley: Co-Founder of Green & Black's

From chocolate to business: a story of innovation, sustainability and scaling

Networking

Join NTU Enterprise for an afternoon of inspiration and business insights with Jo Fairley, the co-founder of Green & Black's Chocolate company. In this talk, Jo will share her incredible journey of starting a business that has become one of the most successful ethical brands in the world. From humble beginnings to global recognition, Jo's story is sure to inspire and motivate entrepreneurs and founders.

  • From: Friday 9 June 2023, 3 pm
  • To: Friday 9 June 2023, 4 pm
  • Location: Dryden Enterprise Centre, Dryden Street, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ
  • Cost: £30
  • Booking deadline: Friday 9 June 2023, 2.00 pm
  • Download this event to your calendar

Past event

Event details

Jo Fairley will share her entrepreneurial journey, building Green & Black’s from a Portobello bedroom to a global ethical name, navigating several different stages of ownership from start-up through private equity investment and acquisition by a multi-national (Cadbury’s, then Kraft/Mondelez).

Jo started her journey as a journalist and was passionate about ethical consumerism. In 1991, she and her husband, Craig Sams, founded Green & Black's, a chocolate company with a product that not only tasted good, but also did good for the environment and society. With its unique blend of high-quality chocolate and ethical values, Green & Black's soon became a global phenomenon, winning numerous awards and recognition for its commitment to sustainability and fair trade.

Jo will talk through the lessons from scaling her venture, the importance of branding and design, customer service, PR, marketing, innovation, how to manage the stresses of running a business. She will also share insights into how to source the right backing to grow – and knowing when investment is needed, to help your business achieve its full potential. This will be followed by an interactive Q+A session.

Always authentic, Jo will share the highs, lows and challenges of Green & Black’s rollercoaster journey, which are relevant to so many ventures. As Jo points out, ‘at the end of the day, whether you're selling chocolate, widgets, accounting services or software, business is business is business…

In addition to founding several serial ventures, today, Jo remains a ‘Chocolate Ambassador’ and consultant to Green & Black’s – which you can enjoy a little taste of on the day!

woman with blonde hair

Programme

3:00 - 3:40 pm - Talk from Jo Fairley

3:40 - 4:00 pm - Interactive Q&A

4:00 - 4:30 pm - Networking and refreshments

Location details

Address:

Dryden Enterprise Centre
Dryden Street
Nottingham
NG1 4FQ

Parking:

There is no onsite parking at the Dryden Enterprise Centre, and we encourage, wherever possible, that people access the building by walking, cycling, or using public transport.

The DEC is within Nottingham Trent University’s city campus.

If you have never been to the Dryden Enterprise Centre check our short TikTok video on how to get to us from the City Campus.

We’re adjacent to the Dryden Centre and opposite the Bonington Gallery. Our location is highlighted by the NTU Enterprise pin. Map courtesy of Google.

If you’re using SatNav or Google Maps use the postcode NG1 4FQ to help find us.

Past event

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Deshaun Hancook