LDC Top 50 2022

Jim Cregan became obsessed with iced coffee while he was travelling around Australia and vowed to start his own brand. When he returned, he pitched the idea to his sister Suzie Owen, and the pair launched Jimmy’s Iced Coffee in Dorset in 2010.

Sold online and in stores from Selfridges to Sainsbury’s, it’s now the fastest-growing ready-to-drink iced coffee brand in the UK, with one bottle sold every four seconds. “We want to see Jimmy’s Iced Coffee in every great fridge around the world,” says Cregan. “When I spot us in a tapas bar down a side alley in Spain, I’ll know we’ve made it.”

Q&A

What was your toughest moment?

Suzie: The first year was the hardest. The bank laughed us out of the building when we told them our idea so we had no money. We drove for miles hand-delivering stock in our £500 Suzuki, which was the size of a Smarties box, and we’d sleep in lay-bys.

What’s it like working as a brother-and-sister team?

Suzie: We know each other inside out. We just have to look at each other to know what the other person is thinking. It has been a bumpy roller-coaster ride but now that Jimmy’s Iced Coffee is a more slick, professional operation, we can actually enjoy spending time together.

What was the biggest turning point for the business?

Jim: Up until 18 months ago, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee was sold in cartons. Then we pioneered the UK’s first aluminium BottleCan™. It’s resealable, it can be infinitely recycled and back on the shelf in 60 days, and it’s different to anything else on the market. We’d already nailed the brand and the ingredients; now we’ve nailed the packaging. It’s the ultimate drinking experience.

Suzie Owen and Jim Cregan were named Ones to Watch in The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Leaders programme for 2021.