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GETTING expelled from school would undoubtedly be a knock to most people's confidence - but for entrepreneur Alex Head, it had the exact opposite effect.

When she was 15, Alex was kicked out of school for starting a food fight - but used this setback to pursue her love of cooking and began selling homemade lunches to her dad's colleagues at his office.

6 Alex was expelled from school when she was 15 for starting a food fight Credit: Instagram

10 years later, Alex, from South London, was struggling to make ends meet working as a waitress when she decided to set up her catering business Social Pantry with just £350.

Alex's business has now catered for the likes of Gigi Hadid, Rihanna and the nation's sweetheart David Attenborough - not bad for someone who created their business while borrowing a friend's laptop.

On top of this, Social Pantry also has its own cafe in Wandsworth, South West London, and recently partnered with Caterer.com to highlight how employing ex-criminals can benefit the hospitality industry.

Alex, 34, spoke to Fabulous Digital for our #BOSSINGIT series about ordinary women who have launched extraordinary businesses.

6 Alex started working with ex offenders four years ago Credit: Social Pantry

Describing why she decided to to go into business, Alex said: "Initially, my only aim was to be able to pay my rent!"

Despite being excluded from school, Alex still managed to get 8 GCSEs and did a cooking course at Ballymaloe cooking school in Ireland when she was 18 before going on to study Hospitality at Oxford Brookes university.

After graduation, Alex worked for two London restaurants - but had to think fast when the pizzeria she was working in when bust.

With just £350 to spare, Alex set up her own catering business from her friend's laptop.

"I didn’t have a business plan or a clear strategy," she said. "I designed a logo, printed some flyers, created a website and started saying yes to every catering request that came my way."

6 Alex started her business with just £350 and created her website using a friend's laptop Credit: Instagram

Fortunately, the time she spent working in the London restaurant scene meant Alex already knew suppliers for her first few engagements.

Any extra profit she made from her first events, Alex re-invested in additional kitchen equipment to keep the cost as low as possible - and only paid herself enough to get by living in London.

"The first few years were all consuming, I was organising the events, cooking, driving to the events, waitressing, doing the finances and managing all the health and safety," she explained. "Looking back now I am not totally sure how I managed it all!"

After a few months of working small events in the capital, Alex bagged an managed to bag an impressive contract for Brentford Football Club - which meant she turned over a whopping £75k in her first year of business.

I didn’t have a business plan or a clear strategy. I designed a logo, printed some flyers, created a website and started saying yes to every catering request. Alex Head

Although feeding 30 footballers five days a week was a mammoth task for Alex and her start-up, this stable source of income meant Alex could continue expanding her business.

She added: "It allowed me to hire some space in a commercial kitchen and once I was settled, I slowly started employing part-time staff when I needed help. Everything grew very organically from there."

In 2016, Alex started employing ex-offenders through charities such as Novus (a scheme which trains people while they're still in custody), prison prevention programme Key4Life and London-based Bad Boys Bakery.

What's more, 10 per cent of Alex's employees are now ex-offenders - including Kiel who she met when he was serving time in Brixton prison last year.

6 Credit: Social Pantry

Alex said: "He was working in Bad Boys Bakery and I visited and cooked with the guys behind bars for the day, he got in touch when he was released, we haven’t looked back.

"He started as a kitchen porter with us one day a week, he now works four days a week. Kiel has been brilliant, he is a Dad of 4 kids and this is his first job."

Last year, a study by Caterer.com found that 74 per cent of hospitality businesses are struggling to find staff whereas 72 per cent of customers would be more likely to visit a restaurant if they knew it helped vulnerable people.

Reflecting on her own experience working with ex-offenders, Alex added: "I think it’s taught me to be more patient and understanding; I really try and think about my employees wider lives, rather than just how they are at work.

"I have come to understand just how many hurdles an ex-offender faces on release, we place a lot of emphasis on supporting all staff and some ex-offenders need additional support which we are more than happy to provide.

"This can be in all sorts of ways from helping to set up a bank account to flexible rotas which work around tag restrictions. Building a positive working and trusting relationships with all employees is key to the individuals and teams success."

The business has come a long way since 2011 - when Alex was a one woman show and working off her friend's laptop.

For the past nine years, Social Pantry's yearly turnover has increased by over 100 per cent - and this year, Alex is set to hit the £4m mark.

Social Pantry has also worked with Etsy, Adidas, Pandora and Boohoo (to name a few) on their press dinners and influencer events.

In recent years, Alex has also ventured into wedding and party catering and offers clients "zero waste" recipes to make the most of their ingredients.

6 Credit: Getty Images - Getty

As well as seeing her employees thrive, Alex's greatest highlight has been working on glamorous events such as Gigi Hadid's Maybelline collection launch in 2018.

She added: "We worked with an events company called Be Seen, they were our client who were launching Rhianna’s Fenty collection and Gigi’s Maybelline collection and we were the chosen caterer which is pretty fun.

"These kind of events briefs need us to be creative, cool and really bring the wow factor. These were some brilliant events and it was definitely exciting to part of such exclusive events."

And while Social Pantry does offer more fine dining options, Alex served pizza for Gigi's star-studded event.

As the head of the company, one of Alex's biggest struggles so far has been knowing when to upscale the business

"Employing and growing a team has been the biggest challenge," she said. "It is a tough industry and you need a dedicated team who are willing to go above and beyond to deliver the best events."

Alex's tips for aspiring businesswomen: Believe in yourself and do it. Once you take the initial step it will all start happening. Be prepared to work hard. It can be a bumpy ride but, you will meet so many wonderful people along the way and will not regret it, seeing my team thriving and smashing their events makes it so worth it. Stay Positive. It can be a bumpy ride but, you will meet so many wonderful people along the way and will not regret taking the leap of faith you need to start your own venture. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions! And ask for advice from different people. If you are raising capital, ask for more than you think you need. Having contingency is always a good idea.

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And Victoria Eagle was battling post-natal depression when she set up her stationery business on eBay and now it's made £500k.

Plus Amanda Jenner created the world's first leak-proof potty company - despite only leaving school with two GCSEs.