Spotlight Series: Always Pure Organics

Legacy Club goes under the hood of some early stage entrepreneurs, to see what makes them and their businesses tick!

MD Gavin Ogilvie of CBD Healthcare company Always Pure Organics

Please tell us a little bit about you the person (not you the business owner): This is a quite a difficult question. One of the personality traits I have noticed in myself and other owners is that we can have a tendency to define ourselves by our business and now your asking me to forget that bit!
Hmmm... My full name is Gavin James Ogilvie, I was born in the Scottish Borders and spent my youth there chasing cows, climbing hills and other countryside related activities. I've had the good fortune of working for myself since leaving home at the age of 17, on a variety of not so successful ventures. Regardless they all allowed me to pay the bills and learn some valuable lessons in the end.

Now I am the ripe old age of 27, living in Manchester, running a still young but very exciting business with my brother. This is my passion.

After this there is three pastimes I peruse outside of business: chess, boxing and guitar.

Describe your business in less than 30 words: Always Pure Organics are a first generation UK cannabis company. We create unique products for clients that wish to incorporate cannabinoids into their catalogue.

What industry or sector does your business fall in to?: Healthcare

What did you do before you started your business?: Spent a great deal of time trying to build international empires across a variety of different sectors .... and failed!

What have been the biggest struggles that you have encountered, and what did you do to overcome them?: Scaling teams at speed.

In my experience growing great teams whilst trading can be very difficult. When the company is growing its revenue quickly there can be a desire or tendency to bring people on quickly to meet these demands. When rushed you can risk bringing on the wrong people or not providing the right people with the best onboarding experience which can turn them into the wrong people. You only get one first impression.

We are still overcoming this. Through bringing on dedicated HR staff and enlisting the support of specialised recruitment agencies we have somewhat alleviated the problem however it has not completely been overcome.

Have you had any external investment to date?: No

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on your business and did you make any changes, or pivots?: Fortunately for those in the health and wellness industry Covid-19 has created a spike in demand for these sort of products. Anxiety was at record levels pre Covid and the recent months have only served to exacerbate that. It has been a cause for many mixed emotions over this year within the company. Obviously great sadness as friends and family lose their jobs and livelihoods but excitement at the growth of the company.

What have been the barriers to your business growth?: People & Talent

Do you have any business hero's, if so, who are they?: Chikako Yoshida - APAC Operations director.
Chikako has been responsible for growing the companies presence in Japan and other far east countries. Over her 1 year of employment at the company she has far exceeded expectations we had placed on her and the region.

Financial Rewards or Business Awards?: Financial Rewards

What was the last book you read?: How to win friends and influence people

Tell us something totally unique about your business: Fastest growing non funded cannabis company in Europe

Finally, please tell us what we can look forward to with your business as we head in to 2021: In 2021 Always Pure Organics plans to double its turnover and add an additional 25 members of staff to the team. We have three international subsidiaries planned across the year in Switzerland, Ireland and Japan.

We also have now a clear pathway to register our first medical CBD product in the second half of the year.