Last week Seven Dials Market played host to a pretty special KERB immersion day. What the ‘eck is that, we hear you ask?
As part of our Streets Ahead programme in partnership with McCain Foodservice Solutions (which offers 115 applicants the opportunity to access KERB Classroom for free and then to pitch for £10k of start up investment) we’ve been inviting participants to come and spend a day with us and our traders, finding out what running a successful food business is all about.
Since kicking off in June 2022, Streets Ahead has so far seen 35 people with big foodie ideas sign up to complete the KERB Classroom course, referred via our impact partners such as TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network), Food Behind Bars and The Connection at St. Martin’s.
After a welcome from Gav (who heads up our social enterprise), the day began with networking before diving into sections on the importance of a clear vision and strong USP lead by Lisa (our Head of Coaching), and understanding menu design and display. Lunch was a trip to KERB’s newest lunchtime market at Cowcross Yards, where the team tucked in to dishes from Los Gordos, Craic Bird and Papelon. A chance to see businesses in action and grab a word with some of the owner-operators of these independent food businesses. Once lunch had been munched, the group headed back to the classroom, to learn from Charlie (Head of our Food team) all about market setups, equipment, operations, as well as how to land their first pitch.
Joining us on the day were KERB Members Tom (founder of Truffle Burger), Rotsen (founder of El Pollote) – who shared snippets of wisdom and learnings from their journey to foodie success. A huge inspiration for up and coming foodie talent in the room!
“To cook food is my meditation, I’m a big dreamer” said Hind, one of the KERB Classroom completers who joined us on the day. “I have a lot of ambition for my food. It’s my end goal to open my own restaurant but I’d like to start with truck food. I want to sell middle eastern dishes, I’m thinking my signature dish would be Lamb Shouzou Mince.”
This is what KERB’s all about. Seeing brand spanking new talent, full of passion and energy, coming through and climbing the ranks! Can’t wait to see what these guys do next, and taste their menus of course.
“We are delighted with the progress we have made on the Streets Ahead programme so far, and the immersion day is another milestone! Bringing together aspiring food entrepreneurs in our Covent Garden food hall and starting to develop their business plans that could lead to them accessing up to £10k funding to bring their business to life is so exciting. This is just the start and we are already seeing amazing engagement from our participants and making great impact.” Gavin Dunn, Managing Director of KERB’s social enterprise
A huge thank you to McCain for sponsoring this programme and allowing us to offer KERB Classroom to these participants for free. There are still spaces available on the Streets Ahead programme – if you are a charity or social enterprise and would like to refer a participant, you can find out more and refer them here.
