Maidenhead-based, home-cooked food delivery platform, Cook My Grub, has more than doubled its team over the past two years thanks to Help to Grow: Management and today works with 100 chefs nationwide.
Entrepreneurs Shabbir Mookhtiar and Dinesh Patil founded the business in 2020 after spotting a gap in their local market for fresh, home cooked food delivered to people’s doorsteps. The service has evolved from same day, hot food delivery to a “heat and eat” model which is now available across the UK.
After experiencing a surge in demand for deliveries post pandemic, co-founder Shabbir Mookhtiar enrolled on the 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course, which is designed to help business leaders and senior managers to meet growth ambitions, inspire innovation and increase resilience.
Delivered by Oxford Brookes Business School – a recipient of the Small Business Charter award that recognises institutions that support small businesses – the course equipped Shabbir with the knowledge to streamline his operations and scale the business.
In 2021, Cook My Grub was working with a group of 40 chefs nationwide. Since completing the Help to Grow: Management Course in 2020, Shabbir has brought on an additional 60 chefs to facilitate the business’ growing footprint and meet increasing demand. Alongside this, the team has reduced monthly operating costs by more than 60% as a result of implementing changes identified during the course.
The business is targeting a 300% increase in turnover by 2023 and has goals to increase its customer base to 50,000 by the summer of 2024. To do so, Cook My Grub has plans to grow the number of chefs on the platform from 100 to 500 by the end of next year.
Shabbir Mookhtiar, co-founder of Cook My Grub, said: “Towards the backend of 2022 we saw consumers becoming more cautious with their spending habits. Pressure from rising energy costs and increasing inflation caused demand for our services to taper. However, we’ve seen a huge rebound in sales throughout the first few months of the year with active users on the platform continuing to rise.
“With Cook My Grub still very early in its lifecycle, we needed to develop the tools to scale quickly but also spend time innovating our business model to differentiate ourselves and stay competitive in the UK food service market.
“Enrolling in the Help to Grow: Management Course has allowed me to focus on the ins and outs of the business to make sure we’re operating as efficiently as possible. I’ve had the opportunity to build valuable relationships with tutors and alumni through shared experiences which has allowed us to navigate our next stage of growth with more confidence.
Michael Hayman MBE, chair, Small Business Charter, added: “The Help to Grow: Management Course was designed to help small businesses boost their performance and build resilience so they could emerge stronger from the challenges of the pandemic and the tough market conditions that followed. Since the course’s inception, our goal has been to showcase how investing in leadership teams can transform the way businesses operate to create more rounded, future-proofed industries.
“Cook My Grub’s disruptive approach has allowed them to take the market by storm. Through the support of Help to Grow: Management, the business and its management team have gained the tools to sustain its position within the sector. We look forward to seeing the business continue to innovate and take advantage of its growth opportunities in the future.”
Business leaders can find out more about Help to Grow: Management and sign up for the course in their area by visiting: www.smallbusinesscharter.org/help-to-grow-management.
