Tushar Kaul, Chief Marketing Officer at Bella & Duke was an AAI intern once. To be exact – 10 years ago! He is now growing his team through AAI EmployAbility. Recently Tushar hired an Events & Partnership Manager and is sharing his experience.
“I was a graduate myself 10 years ago and the team at AAI supported me with my first graduate role.” – Tushar Kaul
Please tell us about your organisation. Why did you need to bring someone into the team?
Bella & Duke is producing raw, healthy fresh pet food with natural ingredients to over 45,000 dogs across the UK serving 11 million meals a year. To make its highly-rated meals, the team scrutinises and applies nutritional science, and sources the best local ingredients, which are blended in its kitchen to world-class standards and frozen inside 30 minutes, before delivering on-demand to customers’ doors nationwide, so all food arrives fresh without additives or preservatives.
Pet wellness brand Bella & Duke (B&D) has raised £3.5 million in its latest funding round. The fresh investment will be used to help the firm expand into the cat food market and to grow B&D’s sales, marketing and recruitment activities as it continues to convert the nation’s dog owners to turn their beloved canines towards a raw diet. Our business has grown rapidly in the last few years and as such, we needed additional staff to keep up with the continued growth.
Why did you choose to hire a graduate for this role?
We choose to hire a graduate as we believe that they are the future business leaders and it’s important for us to nurture and mentor top talent from the very beginning such that we can promote from within. Increasingly millennials are looking to work for brands that are aligned with their core values. Bella & Duke is such a brand that is driven by a core purpose of matching the pet’s health span to their life span. We put pets before profit and are passionate about animal welfare and its impact on the environment.
“Increasingly millennials are looking to work for brands that are aligned with their core values.” – Tushar Kaul
How did you hear about AAI and what was the process like working with us?
I was a graduate myself 10 years ago and the team at AAI supported me with my first graduate role. The process was very easy and they are very skilled in connecting employers’ requirements with the right talent.
Please tell us about your new team member. In what ways did they contribute to your business? How did they fit in with the existing team?
Our new team member – Kass has been an exceptional candidate for us. She brings in a different and fresh perspective to our marketing and is always focused on delivering results for the business. Her personality brings the team together and she is well organised in her projects.
“Our new team member brings in a different and fresh perspective to our marketing and is always focused on delivering results for the business.” – Tushar Kaul
What is the most valuable thing that you learned from your experience of hiring through AAI?
The most valuable lesson I learned from this process is the abundance of talent available in Scotland for marketing. It was difficult for us to decide to choose 1 single candidate as most of them demonstrated a high skill.
What would you say to other employers about using AAI and their diverse graduate audience to find talent?
It’s a no brainer – just go for it.
