The Great British Entrepreneur Awards has been celebrating the stories of exceptional entrepreneurs for over a decade.
The accolades don’t always go to the biggest businesses. We pride ourselves on celebrating incredible stories of passion, tenacity, courage, innovation and disruption from entrepreneurs running businesses of all sizes and at all stages.
Start Application!Yuru Guo is the ambitious founder of Hey! Food is Ready, an inclusive online marketplace launched in 2021 that is transforming workplace culture through food. Yuru was inspired by inventor James Dyson, who persevered through 5,127 prototypes to create the first bagless vacuum cleaner. Like Dyson, Yuru dreamed big and never gave up on her vision to showcase diverse cuisines and support local cooks.
Hey! Food is Ready connects certified cooks from minority ethnic groups with companies seeking catering for events. The platform helps refugee, immigrant and stay-at-home cooks, allowing them to share their culture and stories while generating income. An impressive 80% of our cooks are women, demonstrating the company’s commitment to empowering underrepresented groups.
In just two years, Hey! Food is Ready has achieved remarkable success. They created inclusive community kitchen enabling refugee cooks to share their cuisine. The company also won Innovate UK’s Inclusive Innovation Award, receiving £50,000 to further their social impact. Hey! Food is Ready was also named the winner of Durham University’s largest startup challenge, claiming £10,000 in funding.
Looking ahead, Yuru aims to expand Hey! Food is Ready’s catering service across the UK. By showcasing diverse cuisines and supporting local cooks, the company is promoting inclusion in the workplace and beyond.
Yuru’s inspirational journey as an entrepreneur and Hey! Food is Ready’s achievements have earned them a place as finalists in the 2023 Great British Entrepreneur Awards, known as “The Grammys of Entrepreneurship.” The awards ceremony will be held in London on November 20th.
