<p>Despite the many business closures of 2020 due to the pandemic, it also saw the launch of a record number of start-ups. Around 407,510 new businesses were formed during this period in the UK and one of those was Plateaway – an online platform that enables users to create their favourite restaurant dishes using meal kits.</p><p><a href="https://www.plateaway.com/meal-kits/?swoof=1&pa_product-type=meal-kits">Meal kits</a> feature all the ingredients and instructions needed to help make your own version of a restaurants signature dish. Think a DIY version of Deliveroo, that can touch all parts of the country and not just those local to the restaurant. Plateaway was born when one of the founders, a former Design Thinkers Academy London open course delegate, Harry Slagel, decided that there needed to be a centralised platform where all these kits were available. Working fast, Harry and his brother Lewis brought this idea together and Plateaway was formed.</p><p>We first met Harry back in 2019 when he attended both our <a href="https://www.designthinkersacademy.co.uk/courses/design-thinkers-bootcamp/">Design Thinkers Bootcamp</a> and <a href="https://www.designthinkersacademy.co.uk/courses/design-thinking-facilitation/">Design Thinking Facilitation</a> courses. In this edition of our podcast we talk to Harry about starting Plateaway. We look at the lessons learned when launching a startup and Harry shares his best advice for those looking to do similar. We also look at how Design Thinking helped influence the work. Make sure you stay listening to the end in order to access a little Plateaway surprise for followers.</p>
