From Sailor to Success: Amy’s Journey Into Digital Marketing Entrepreneurship
January 7, 2025
A fitness-focused Royal Signals veteran and her football fanatic wife have taken their passion for sport and nutrition and turned them into a business. The combination of passion, expertise and a desire to fill a gap in the market led the way to the creation of Purendure.
Laura Gardner has always pushed herself physically, working out and looking after her body. Before joining the British Army in 2011 she had already completed two triathlons. She served seven years in the Royal Signals, discovering a passion for CrossFit during a tour in Afghanistan. On leaving the military, this passion endured and she found a new love in running, completing her first marathon earlier this year.
For Hayley Gardner, it was football: “I was just this small ginger kid happily running around in a boys’ team from the age of 7.” She eventually upgraded to the girls’ Brighton and Hove Centre of Excellence, later pursuing studies in Sports Development and Fitness including becoming a Certified Football and Basketball coach then a personal trainer.
For both women, their passion for fitness and nutrition has never wavered. Their discovery of a gap in the market for pure and natural energy products for sports is where Purendure was born – they combined ‘PURE’ ingredients with ‘ENDURANCE’ sports to create a natural, fruity, and clean alternative to traditional energy gels.
Not that there wasn’t some trial and error involved, as Hayley explains:
“Laura ended up buying baby food pouches like Ella’s Kitchen as well as the Aldi versions, but because it wasn’t high enough in carbs she’d have to take a hell of a lot more on a run and add Maple Syrup, but it became little more than a sticky mess.”
The pair found that there were companies who loosely used the word ‘natural’ alongside ingredients such as brown rice syrup (with a higher GI than refined sugar) but no products that were simply made from fruit. It was here that the gap in the market became clear.
Combining the IT skills learned by Laura in the Army and Hayley’s experience of working in Facilities, coupled with their shared commitment to fitness and nutrition, they decided to create a business. As we know, this is a serious commitment that requires dedication and resilience, qualities embodied by those who have served in uniform:
“Resilience during my time in the military was key, not only in tours of Afghanistan but also in the UK,” Laura reflects. “This has translated well into starting a business as it comes with its highs and lows which require resilience and perseverance to really be successful.”
Starting out making their gel pouches from fruit purees and natural syrups at home was one thing, but they quickly realised that this method would not scale. So, they decided to approach manufacturers directly.
“This was a nightmare at first,” Hayley explains. “but luckily, we found one in Scotland, and they’ve been amazing. We gave them a recipe and they suggested using date syrup – which retains all the nutrients and is lower GI. From there we tinkered with ratios to get the carbs high enough, which involved sending them off for analysis which was costly to say the least.”
The next step was factory testing to ensure the product ran through the machinery and equipment, again a potentially expensive process. However, the manufacturer clearly believed in the product as they supplied the ingredients free of charge, meaning Hayley and Laura had simply to pay for their time, then head to Scotland to observe the fruits of their labour becoming real.
“A lot of supermarkets would probably pour these successful tests down the drain, but we decided to pouch them off to use as momentum to for our actual product launch, which is imminent,” Hayley enthuses. “We’ve been handing out samples and at the same time we’re gathering e-mail addresses for our database, setting up our Shopify platforms, partnering with events, looking for ambassadors, and arranging for fulfilment to come out of Bristol.”
Like many people, Hayley and Laura funded the set-up costs of the business themselves from savings, which is one of the less risky routes to take. While there are other ways to finance start-up costs – personal loans, the ‘bank of mum and dad’ or through the government-backed British Business Bank for whom X-Forces Enterprise is a partner – it is important to have a viable plan to ensure the finances are as sound as possible. The plan, which will no doubt adapt over weeks, months, and years, is a great tool for additional growth and investment. The support for initial planning, ongoing support and peer-to-peer networking has been invaluable.
The pair have also had fantastic support from fellow entrepreneurs within XFE’s Military in Business community, securing a PR advisor and getting advice on their website’s SEO, while also attending a number of our Masterclasses supported by generous funding from the Army Benevolent Fund.
“Supporting Army veterans to find rewarding careers post service, including self-employment, is a key focus of the Army Benevolent Fund’s work. X-Forces Enterprise provides the knowledge to determine if business is the right path for them and tools to succeed. It brings great pride to see so many new ventures flourish, and their owners fulfilled, thanks to this progressive partnership.” – Major General (Ret’d) Tim Hyams CB OBE, Chief Executive, Army Benevolent Fund
2025 promises to be a big year for Purendure, and we can’t wait to catch up with Hayley and Laura to hear how ‘pure’ and ‘endure’ lie at heart of a recipe for success in business.
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Learn More about Laura and Hayley’s business: Purendure website
