As the country basks in a heatwave (today was just a hiatus, right?), it feels like a good time to talk to Michael Lowe – an engineer who was working in automotive engineering when he was struck by how “crazy” it was that diesel was still being used to power transport refrigeration.
All those lorries trundling around to retailers carrying chilled or frozen food – and maybe that ice cream you’re craving right now? “Thousands of these units are entering the ULEZ daily without any restrictions, despite producing up to 400 times more particulates than the trucks carrying them,” Lowe points out.
“The technology existed to fix this - someone just needed to engineer it properly.” That’s what his firm, Sunswap, does – building wholly electric refrigeration units, powered by batteries and solar on the roof of the trailer. “Solar power works in perfect harmony with refrigeration,” the entrepreneur adds. “More sun means higher cooling demand, but also more energy generation. It was one of those things where you look at it and thought 'why wasn’t anyone doing this already?'”
Some 50,000 vehicles across the UK keep their contents cold while burning fossil fuels to run a generator to make electricity to power a compressor. “It struck me as fundamentally ridiculous - like charging your Tesla with a diesel generator,” Lowe adds. Now his firm has electrified the fridges that keep food fresh during transport, and is aiming to eliminate diesel from cold chain logistics.
It’s enjoyed rapid growth: turnover is set to hear £6 million this year. Sunswap’s customers now include frozen food giant Birds Eye, Tesco, and freight firms DFDS, Bannister Transport, and TIP Group. But the business was only conceived in 2020, when its founders – Lowe, Andrew Sucis, and Nikolai Tauber– spent 18 months “in pure engineering mode - designing a purpose-built electric system rather than bolting batteries onto existing diesel technology.”
A first customer trial with DFDS in 2022 ran for 11 days, including two-day frozen delivery cycles on a single charge. “That proved the concept. From there, it was about scaling the engineering into manufacturing - which is all in Britain.” Building in this country meant “world-class engineering talent and a strong manufacturing heritage… quality control, rapid iteration, and supporting British jobs. It wasn't tough at all - it was obvious,” Lowe adds.
It was a gradual start: a crowdfunding campaign lured 1,100 investors, who put in £850,000. “We launched our first commercial units with DFDS in November 2024 after two years of trials. No fanfare, just units going into daily service. Word spread. When you can demonstrate emissions savings, and cost savings through eliminating expensive diesel fuel, the technology sells itself. The sector is quite tight-knit; success stories travel quickly. We gave [customers] a unit and said, ‘push it to its limits’. The greatest compliment we receive is that it runs just like their current diesel units – operationally, there is no difference. The difference is where it counts: zero emissions, zero diesel, lower noise, and savings on running costs. By the time we publicly launched, operators like Bannister Transport were already committing to fleet-wide adoptions.”
Sunswap – which now employs 100 people – has since raised over £20 million with institutional investors including BGF, Barclays, and Clean Growth Fund. Lowe says he’s not concerned about competition: “it’s good, it will help accelerate the industry's move away from diesel, which is exactly what we want."
How I grew my kids' food business from a kitchen table start-up to a £30m brand, by Hillary Graves, founder of Little Dish
Hillary Graves founded Little Dish in 2006 because, she says, “there were no fresh meal options in the supermarket for babies and young children. I wanted to create a range of delicious, just like home-made recipes that were kept in the fridge, not the cupboard.”
Parents clearly agreed - and the firm was acquired by US-based private equity firm Profile Capital in a deal valued at £17 million in 2017. But Graves is still at the helm and Little Dish has scaled from a trial in a handful of shops to a brand in stores including Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose, and Ocado. Here the founder shares her hard-learned lessons for success:
“Find a genuine consumer need
The best innovation isn’t just about creating something new. Identify where existing products fail, then build a solution that makes people’s lives easier, better, and happier. In our case, parents care about the food they feed their children, but they don’t always have time to cook from scratch every night.
Know your audience and build a relationship
Consumer research is key. Our Taste Testing panel was my children in the early days - over time we have grown our tasting network to over 200 kids across the UK. Understanding what is most important to your target audience helps at launch, but also in ensuring you have on-going feedback as you refine over time.
Never compromise on quality
Your product should continue to get better. As your business grows, there will be opportunities to become more profitable through cost reductions. Choose options that improve margins, but never compromise the quality and standards of your product.
Social impact and sustainability matter
Prioritising social impact and sustainability builds long-term brand equity and deeper trust: consumers seek out socially responsible brands. We partnered with food redistribution charity The Felix Project to donate over half a million meals to children in need.
Building awareness isn’t just about advertising
Before we had money to spend on marketing, we dropped flyers and vouchers at local nurseries and playgroups near stores where our meals were sold, and hired ‘community marketers’ - other parents - to host tastings at their homes. This word-of-mouth, ‘parents recommending Little Dish to other parents’ approach was critical to our early success. Social media provided new channels to connect with parents, including working with a network of influencers.
Be prepared that everything won’t go to plan
There will be challenges and mistakes: the important thing is to be resilient and come out the other side stronger. Setbacks are opportunities to approach things differently next time. Make sure you have a good support system in place: a business partner you trust, a talented team with a shared vision, and/or an advisory board. And take time to celebrate the wins along the way.”
