Sally Louise Preston MBE (born 1964[1]) is a British entrepreneur and founder of the frozen babyfood company Babylicious. She is an advisor of the Conservative Party (UK) as a member of the New Enterprise Council.
Early career
editPreston gained a degree in Food science and then joined Marks & Spencer’s ready-meals department in the 1980s. She left in 1999 to do consultancy work, partly motivated by the need to find a better balance between her working life and motherhood.[1]
Babylicious
editPreston founded Babylicious in 2001, partly because she had seen a need for high quality frozen baby food, and partly because, being newly divorced and diagnosed with skin cancer, she felt that "life’s pretty bad as it is already, what have I got to lose?"[citation needed]
The early years of Babylicious were notable for a series of problems, including theft of the company's name and consequent litigation, and a vendetta campaign staged by an ill-wisher who impersonated an official to make derogatory calls to Preston's customers. However her company today has a turnover of £2.5M p.a. and the value of the brand is estimated at £4M.[2][3]
Preston was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b Sue Fox (18 November 2007). "Best of Times, Worst of Times: Sally Preston". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011.
- ^ "Planning a path for your business". The Independent. 10 September 2004.[dead link]
- ^ "Babylicious". Startups. 14 September 2004.
- ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N21.
External links
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