"Founder & CEO of Grenade Al Barratt is one of the most exciting businessmen in the UK. The mission was simple: to create an iconic weight-loss product that was available globally.
Al’s journey began at a young age when he realised the 9-5 desk job life wasn’t for him. He had a home-life where money wasn’t always accessible, so dropped out of school to work for minimum wage at a gym in Birmingham, leading him into setting up his own sports nutrition distribution business in 1999. Importing products from the US, the experience convinced him that there was an opportunity to create his own brand, and Grenade was founded from a spare bedroom in 2010 with a budget of £500.
The first product became the bestselling weight management product in the UK, and by 2015 the game changing Grenade bar had hit the shelves, becoming the number one selling chocolate bar in the UK. In 2021, Mondelez acquired the majority interest in Grenade, valuing the business at over $250M.
Al has remained in the business as CEO, and has subsequently become a private pilot, philanthropist, and mentor for Virgin Start Up. He has won Entrepreneur of the Year an unprecedented three times and still feels like this is just the beginning.