“Employment is the best way to stop re-offending”: The boss who prepares the meal company on “talent” in prison Cook|Ethical Business

rCook’s boss Osie Brown never planned to be CEO. First, she trained as a nurse and then tried politically. Then the bank. But Brown, who started out trying to find his own niche, now leads a ready-made business, is the best food and beverage workplace in the country and hopes to help others find their way in the work world.

Last year, the co-CEO of the Ethical Frozen Foods business took over James Timpson, owner of the shoe chain, as chairman of the Employment Advisory Committee network, a government-backed program launched by Timpson to work with more than 90 prisons.

She said she “grows up and thinks it’s totally normal to hire people with disabilities.”

Brown’s parents were entrepreneurs who hired progressive entrepreneurs in their small cafe and bakery businesses. So when she joined Cook in 2000 three years after her brother Ed Perry (her co-CEO) and his chef friend Dale Penfold and a shop in Surrey Farnham, she wanted to find a similar way to “make an impact” and approach three local prisons.

“There are great talents in prisons, great people. There are a lot of trauma, difficult backgrounds and difficult lives that put people in jail first. The speed of re-offending is too high, and employment is the best way to stop. [that]. So, it’s great for society. This is great for the community. If we can do that, it’s good for everyone. ”

She hopes the government incentivizes more businesses to support additional training through tax breaks, such as employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs) or the use of apprenticeship taxes. “Currently, companies that do this like us are doing it from our own back pockets,” Brown said.

Cook recruited 250 people through a program called Raw Talent, which Brown launched a decade ago to help people go to jail, homeless or other challenges. Graduates of the program fill in their work in the Cook store and kitchen in Steelburn, Kent, accounting for 5% of the Brown workforce.

Helping former criminals is just part of the ethical stance of the family business, which also includes sourcing all meat in the UK, providing discounted food for community events, paying real living wages (a decade of work done), providing profit bonuses for workers and even providing a holiday for nearby transactions.

Not only is the company certified as B, but another Brown brother, James Perry, is also the chairman of Cook – co-founded the UK campaign of the program, which requires businesses to meet ethical and environmental standards.

“Our independent streak is very strong,” Brown said as he wandered on flapjacks at the company headquarters.

The group will not sell through supermarkets, but rather its own chain of about 100 stores. It also puts its own freezer in more than 1,200 independent sales stores, sells online and is pursuing new ideas such as providing vending machines for hospital staff. It plans to have about eight new stores this year with at least 100 offers and expand its online subscription service, which includes lunch boxes for new parents – a key way to win new fans.

Brown said the shift to employee ownership has not been excluded one day, but at present “the business is mainly owned and operated by family members and there is no plan to change.” Although they do have some external shareholders, they are not only focusing on “deliverying that number in the lower right corner of the spreadsheet”.

Still, there are plenty to be happy with on spreadsheets right now. Cook flourished during the pandemic as Cook’s interest in home food suddenly surged. While other similar businesses have struggled since then, Cook managed to attract a brand new set of customers.

By the end of March 2024, sales rose nearly 13% to £120 million, while pre-tax profit jumped to £2.5 million – an increase of nearly 80% when large amounts of insurance payments related to cyberattacks were excluded in the previous year. Half of the shareholders of the company are the Perry family, while the rest pay a dividend of £1.25 million.

According to Brown, growth continued to grow by about 10% last year. Next year’s goal is to reach £150 million in revenue.

These meals aren’t particularly cheap, with two fish pies at £11.50, slightly more than Charlie Bigham’s equivalent – though you do get an extra 125 grams from Cook. Cheap options include £7.60 for vegetarian cabin pie or £4 for Korean style chicken wings, and new parents discounts, such as 10% off. Still, the company has raised prices over the past two years, with potential increase this fall.

Brown admits that this situation is getting harder and the costs of labor and ingredients are increasing, including the price of beef, which will cost £1.1 million in the business this year. The costs of eggs, lamb, cocoa and butter are also rising.

Brown said it was right for people to care about the “state of British agriculture” and she “hopefully see more government leadership on this issue”.

“I think food is the foundation of a healthy society. So I definitely want to see it become more energetic and focused,” she said.

She added: “The Prime Minister makes life and growing life harder. They say they want to grow, but in fact they are already in [it]. ”

Brown said Cook wouldn’t be ethical sourcing on its ingredients or workers’ wages, they stirred up a lot of cheese sauce, hand-fused sausage rolls, and made sure every fish pie had the right ingredients to mix. However, the team is facing the challenge of studying how to use more automation in the kitchen.

“What we won’t compromise on is handmade, skilled hand-made drill bits. But there are some bits of sealing and packaging, or anywhere, I think we can improve efficiency.”

The business has survived tough times, including the pandemic, the “white joint riding” of cyberattacks and the 2008 financial crisis, when sales fell 10%. “We squeezed our way,” Brown said. “We are very good at cash flow management.”

“I think it’s just focusing,” she said. “We don’t want to pass it all on to customers. We don’t want to accept it. [them] It’s natural, so we have to be smarter. ”

CV

age 49
family Husband; three sons, 20, 18 and 15 years old. “Dad lives with us too.” Two dogs and two cats.
educate Moncton Combe School.
The last holiday Girl with cousin’s ski break.
Pay “Our payment difference is no more than 12 times [higher than] Minimum payment. ”
She got the best advice “A good relationship at work requires three things: a common goal, an appreciation of who is doing what, and a view of each other’s perspectives and contributions.”
The biggest regret “Now I’ll deal with different issues, and now I’m a little older and smarter.”
She’s overdoing her phrase “Let’s look at the organizational map!”
How she relaxes Walking dogs, writing diaries, TV and dramas, friends and family.