Louis Story

Hi I am Louis Barnett

I am a 18 year old entrepreneur and chocolatier with a passion for quality products that is
matched only by my commitment to ethical trading and encouraging other young people to pursue their dreams.

This will give you a brief idea of how I became an entrepreneur!

I have always found school work hard, I received extra tutoring for my year six S.A.T.S which to date is my last educational based qualification. Shortly after I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and short term memory loss ,I finally understood why I had found school work so hard and was completely relived when I was diagnosed.

I only managed 6 weeks of secondary school, as I was being bullied and could not cope with the academic work. My parents decided to take me out of main stream education and I was home educated, I tried many different projects but I was still struggling ,so decided to try a more vocational education.

I began voluntary work at a falconry centre, my parents bought me an experience day at the centre flying birds ,I loved it so much I asked the owner if I could work there voluntary. The owner really tested me and gave me the worst tasks, I really learned the meaning of hard work and began to understand a business from the inside.  As my confidence began to grow  I got promoted and travelled the country flying birds of prey,then  later I got my own owl.

So how did I get into chocolate? One evening my auntie Jane asked me to make a chocolate cake for her 50^th birthday, I agreed and the following day at a garden centre next to the falconry centre I came across a Belgian chocolate  book and in this was a recipe for my auntie’s cake .

My family and friends loved the cake and as I started getting more requests for cakes I began researching into the ingredients of chocolate so I could produce the highest quality cakes. I came across an ingredient called palm oil and as I delved further discovered the destruction that this ingredient was causing to the habitats of animals and our planet. From this moment I vowed never to use palm oil in any of my products.

The requests continued flying in,and  I received a request from a local restaurant, and a deli. At this point I set up my own business to deal with the high demand, I was still only 12 and unbeknown to me I became Britain’s youngest entrepreneur.

As   I researched I found Barry Callebaut, the world’s major supplier of chocolate products and gained valuable information from them about how chocolate is produced .At 15 I was very lucky to be the first person to be sponsored on an ‘official’ training course as a chocolatier, in their academy in Banbury, UK, and they have supported me ever since with my ongoing chocolate training.

I was the youngest ever supplier to Waitrose at 13 (2006) and Sainsbury’s at 14 (2007) and Selfridges at 15 ,  I have appeared on most of the major news media, featuring regularly in local and national newspapers, radio and T.V programmes, including appearing with Peter Jones on a ‘young entrepreneur’ piece on the This Morning programme with Phil Schofield and Fern Brittan.

Several camera crews have filmed me, including Fuji TV (Japan), Sky News coverage of an in-store appearance which was relayed by Fox TV in USA, Japan, Russia, Belgium and Spain.

These were all very exciting and allowed me to get my message across that we need to protect wildlife and the environment if we are to ever have a sustainable future. As a passionate conservationist I decided to use chocolate as a medium to both raise awareness of global climate change, animal endangerment and human impact and raise funds to charities and organisations that truly made a difference!  These are called the Biting Back Bars, each bar of chocolate gives 10 pence from every bar sold to a charity or organisation.

I was a finalist in the Teen section of Make Your Mark’s Enterprising Young Brits 2007 Competition. I then became an ambassador talking to schools, colleges and universities.

I was also awarded ambassador status for Business Rocks, in Shropshire encouraging 14 – 18 year old entrepreneurs in the county.

As an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association I was invited to attend a launch at the CASS business school and do a 30 minute speech.  I do try to be a role model as much as I can for other young people, to show what you can achieve with determination and hard work, I believe that one person can make a difference to the world we live in.

At the request of Sir Patrick Cormack, MP for South Staffs, I met with the previous   Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and The Prime Minister David Cameron, at the House of Commons. This was a milestone as it allowed me to tell them everything that I have been up to and show them my work. I still keep them informed on my achievements and regularly receive letters from them offering support and advice.

In December 2008 I was asked to make some chocolate boxes for the Festival of Trees event. This is a fundraiser for Save the Children that is held at the Natural History Museum. I donated 450 Chocolate boxes that raised £31,000. When auctioned off, on the night, I was honoured to meet HRH Princess Anne who chatted to me about chocolates and my business then thanked me in her address to the diners.

In Feb 2009 I received the Lord Carter Memorial Award, at the House of Lords hosted by Lord Krebbs and Lady Carter. This was a magical evening as we were on the terrace of The house of Lords having Dinner with 100 guests from the food industry, retailers and Journalists who had come to support me .I gave a 30 minute speech which everyone enjoyed and is now on my new web site. Justin King was so impressed he invited me to Sainsbury’s head office in Holborn to talk to 200 of his managers. The award was given by Justin King and Lady Carter in recognition of outstanding achievement in the food industry.

I met with Beverly and Derek Joubert, Explorers in Residences National Geographic. At their film premier in Bristol. They were entered into the Panda awards for the documentary film Eye of the Leopard. After they won their award, we identified that we could produce a bar that supported conservation charities that they were working with .

In January   I was  invited to Surrey to meet with  Melanie Shepherd and the David Shepherd Wildlife Conservation team .They had contacted us  to ask if we would make them a bar of chocolate that would raise awareness and funds for their specific Rhino projects in Africa. As the meeting went on and the passion grew we agreed to make them a second bar that would help the elephants that David is so famous for.

What has been so inspirational for us is to be working with a charity that has been able to see the true potential of the Biting Back Bar^TM and have embraced and supported me 100%. It makes me realise that no matter what I do for any projects in raising money or awareness, it is people like DSWF who are the real heroes ,as they are the ones who make it happen and dedicate their time and life to these animals .Without people like DSWF, these magnificent animals would disappear altogether.

I am constantly striving to help other young people and give a lot of my free time (what little I have) to show them that hard work and determination does pay off. We are all living in a time where things are tough, but I feel we need more emphasis on being positive and encouraging other young people to get involved.

I am now doing professional motivational, business and educational speaking, and am listed with Specialist Speakers Ltd and soon to be listed with other companies.

I travelled to Mexico in February and have learnt much about the history of Mexican cocoa, I was invited to attend the Chocolate experience show as a highly accredited chocolatier. I am also very much looking forward to developing  business links  in Mexico and hopefully  have   inspired  many  young people in Mexico and  here in the UK. 

I will be travelling to Singapore,( What makes a young Champion 2010  Singapore University) and The Mediterranean this year to support the retailers of my Biting Back Bars^TM. I also offer motivational speeches and encouragement to other entrepreneurs young and old and travel extensively to tell my story.

I have recently returned from the St. Gallen Symposium in Switzerland. As part of the distinguished guests of the knowledge pool.
The St. Gallen Symposium is the world’s leading platform for dialogue on key issues in management, the entrepreneurial environment and the interfaces between business, politics and civil society.
It was an inspirational experience and will help to shape my speeches and events in the future!  

Louis Barnett