IQ-Magazine-Issue-15

IQ business profile
In life, there are challenges, ups and downs, good days and
bad days. How we cope with the daily knocks is what shapes
us as people. However, adversity can be a breeding ground for
triumph – and this was certainly the case for one of the most
inspiring businesses to have featured in our magazine.
Amanda and Georgia Takacs are the mother-daughter
dream team and co-founders of Noel Road, a new and
exciting start up that’s bringing wellbeing to the masses.
They share their unique story and show how small
changes can lead to big rewards in business, as well
as life.
For almost ten years, the Takacs family happily
existed living and breathing their family-run restaurant on
Noel Road, Islington. Georgia’s childhood was shaped by
good food and the shared love of tasty, quality ingredients,
a passion that followed the family as they moved to Cambridge
15 years ago.
Having been brought up on sumptuous flavours and
seasonal produce, Georgia was a rare gourmet
undergraduate – cooking delicious and nutritious meals
with her friends while studying English Literature in
London, with dreams of a career in journalism.
Shortly after graduating, Georgia got the call that
would set her life on a different path. Her mum, Amanda, had
been diagnosed with breast cancer. “Georgia rushed home with arms
full of spinach and greens and was hell-bent on giving me the best
fighting chance”, Amanda recalls. “My treatment left me sick, tired
and exhausted and together, we wanted to find dietary changes that
would counter the toxins and give me a renewed sense of energy.”
Georgia launched into research mode and redesigned her mum’s diet
to include organic ingredients, natural supplements and anything else
that could help. Together, they adopted a new nutritional plan.
Georgia pulled together her favourite vitality-boosting products and
put together a ‘Health Hamper’ and gave it as a gift for Christmas.
“That was my eureka moment! We knew what we were doing was
making us feel better, and the hamper was the ideal way to package
up a collection of products that all work together. We thought this
would be a great way to bring wellbeing to the masses in an accessible
and educational way.”
The pair registered the business name in November 2014 and for
Georgia, it was a realisation of something she’d long been planning.
“I’d always wanted to brand ‘something’ with Noel Road as it’s been
such an important part of our family’s story. This business venture is
a real journey and it makes sense to bring Noel Road into it, as this is
where mine began,” Georgia explains. “It also has a timeless feel that
will give us something to grow from, which is an exciting prospect.”
A great product and a catchy business name weren’t enough to get
the business off the kitchen table. The pair needed funding and
explored a number of options before stumbling, by chance, on the
cash injection they’d need. “A friend of Georgia’s had heard about
issue 15 | page 58