Strategic Clarity and Cultural Energy: How COOK Became a £150 Million Food Retailer with James Rutter (episode 564)
James Rutter is the Chief Strategy Officer at COOK, home of award-winning frozen meals and puddings. Founded in 1997, and a BCorp since 2013! COOK now sell via their bespoke website, 111 shops across the UK, and via wholesale. And in the last 15 years they’ve grown from £30million to being on track for £150million in annual sales this year, of which about 1/5 are online.
Listen now for free:
Powered by RedCircle
Subscribe on your Favourite Podcast App
Dive in:
[03:57] “Vertically Integrated Retail Food Chain”
[08:18] “Empowering People in Business”
[12:54] “Balancing Recruitment with Social Impact”
[15:55] Simplifying Strategy for Clarity
[18:57] Painful Choices Ensure Strategic Clarity
[21:21] Annual Strategic Planning Process
[24:14] Cultivating Authentic Brand Connection
[26:50] Confronting Brutal Facts
[29:27] Listen to James’ Top Tips!
Culture Is Your Biggest Competitive Advantage
James argues that culture isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a performance driver. Whether you have 3 employees or 3,000, how connected your team feels directly impacts results. Culture should be intentional, not left to chance. Use tools like surveys or frameworks to check the “health” of your team and keep improving. If your people feel motivated and part of something bigger, they will deliver better results — and that’s a huge edge over competitors.
Make Your Team Feel Like Insiders
James says one of the simplest ways to build culture is to share information openly. Don’t hoard knowledge at the top — it only disengages your team. He suggests things like regular updates from leadership to make everyone feel involved in the journey. When your staff know what’s happening and why, they show up more committed. This insider feeling costs nothing but pays off in loyalty and performance.
Hire With Intention – And Consider “RAW Talent”
COOK’s RAW Talent program shows how hiring can be part of your culture and impact. They offer jobs to people with big barriers to employment, including those from prisons or long-term unemployment. This might sound risky, but it’s been a success for over a decade. The key was being transparent with existing staff and co-creating a supportive environment. James shows that when you hire well — even in unconventional ways — it strengthens your company and your brand.
The 7 Laws of Strategy — Keep It Clear and Simple
James believes every business needs strategic clarity on a single page. His 7 Laws of Strategy make this easy to follow:
- Difference – Define what makes you unique, not just “better.”
- Doing – Act on your difference with distinctive activities.
- Choice – Say no to some things so you can focus on the right ones.
- Creativity – Start with imagination before diving into numbers.
- What Would Need to Be True – Reverse engineer to test if your strategy is realistic.
- Risk – Accept that strategy is about creating an uncertain future.
- Clarity – Fit it all on one page so everyone understands it.
This approach removes fear from strategy and gets the whole team pulling in the same direction.
Brand Vitality Starts Inside Your Company
A brand that feels alive outside must feel alive inside first. James stresses that your team has to believe in the mission before customers will. At Cook, they focus on being part of the community, not just selling food. Online and offline, they create ways for customers to engage, not just buy. If you want loyal customers, start by energizing your internal team and then extend that energy outward.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- No Bullsh*t Strategy: A Founder’s Guide to Gaining Competitive Advantage with a Strategy That Actually Works by Alex M H Smith
- Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Brand by Matthew Dicks
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Use email marketing as a relationship-building tool — not just for selling — to grow a loyal, engaged customer base.
Tool Top Tip
- Send handwritten postcards or notes to team members to make them feel noticed, affirmed, and needed — a simple but powerful culture-builder.
Carbon Top Tip
- Reuse packaging for deliveries to cut emissions and turn it into a brand moment customers will love.
Interview links
- Check out COOK
- James on LinkedIn
- Want a sneak peek at the framework James shares in this episode? Check out his LinkedIn post where he breaks down COOK’s three essential ingredients for long-term success:
Related Episodes
- Flavers’ Journey from Dragons’ Den to Sustained Growth with Shabbir Mookhtiar (episode 499)
- Building a $2M eCommerce Brand Through Community-Driven Marketing with Hema Natesan (episode 529)
- How B2B eCommerce store Vegetarian Express Drives Success by Serving Sustainability with Jane Firth (episode 534)
Without the sponsors the podcast wouldn’t be possible – please do check them out:
Have you yet downloaded our ebook?
To celebrate reaching Episode 500 we’ve created an EPIC eCommerce success-focused ebook.
Packed with FIVE HUNDRED Top Tips about how to make your eCommerce store more profitable.
Featuring the advice of many, many past guests, alongside industry experts and many from you – our listeners.
Chloe has checked every single tip, and organised the whole thing into sections for you.
Making is super easy to dip and dip out and take inspiration as and when you need it.
This ebook needs to be sat on your desktop – or (even…) printed and sat on your desk.
Download your free copy right now
Full transcript to read & download:
Like to be a guest? Apply Here