From Accidental Entrepreneur to City Champion – Food, Exit and Impact with Liz McAreavey

Описание: In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Liz McAreavey, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, whose business journey started not in a boardroom, but in a student flat baking flapjacks. What began as a way to fund her accountancy studies became a deli, then a catering company that grew over 16 years to a £7 million turnover and Scotland’s largest independent caterer – serving everything from racecourses and football stadia to Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland and the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Liz MacAreavy
Liz shares how recession forced her to stop waiting for customers and start taking a basket of sandwiches into local offices, accidentally discovering networking, relationship-building and word-of-mouth growth. She talks candidly about scaling from five staff to 150, learning to build systems and structure, putting on 2,000-cover events to immovable deadlines, and why people, trust and culture were always at the heart of the business.
We then explore her exit journey – selling the company, navigating earn-out and culture clash with the acquirer, and what she’d do differently to maximise value and protect her team. Liz explains why you should always think about your exit well ahead of time, strengthen your balance sheet and get proper corporate advice rather than “making it up as you go”.
Today, as CEO of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Liz uses everything she learned as an entrepreneur, business developer at Deloitte and market leadership strategist at EY to champion businesses and the city. She breaks down what chambers actually do – from helping micro and SME members find clients, connections and confidence, to lobbying on infrastructure, skills, housing, transport and tax so the business environment supports sustainable growth.
We also dive into women in business and exports. Liz talks about the success of the Chamber’s Women in Business lunches, the Pathways programme that helped women scale (before funding was cut), and her mission to increase the number of women-led businesses exporting. She shares ideas for women-only trade missions, the real barriers female founders face (from risk and complexity to caring responsibilities) and the support she wants to see from government.
Throughout the conversation, Liz comes back to relationships, resilience and self-compassion – from building “a world-class team, not world-class individuals” to being more forgiving of yourself as a leader and remembering that you don’t have to get everything right first time.
In this episode, we cover
How a student side-hustle baking flapjacks turned into a deli and then a multi-site catering business
Growing to £7 million turnover and 150 staff, serving major venues like Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland and the Royal Yacht Britannia
Learning to stop “making it up” and start building systems, controls, financial discipline and a proper management structure
Using catering to learn planning, logistics and hard deadlines – when lunch is at 1pm, it’s at 1pm
Finding and developing people: spotting attitude and culture fit, nurturing talent and helping staff grow into new roles and careers
The power of challenging “that’s how it’s done” – moving from silver service to restaurant-quality plated food at scale
Deciding to sell: identifying contracts and value, choosing a buyer, protect­ing staff and what Liz would do differently about timing and preparation
Why cultural due diligence matters just as much as financial and legal due diligence in any acquisition
Moving into professional services: using her network to drive business development at Deloitte and later leading market leadership strategy at EY
Choosing impact over status – leaving big firms to become CEO of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and “be a big fish in a small pond”
What a chamber of commerce really does for micro, SME and corporate members – connection, profile, insight and policy voice
The importance of local supply chains and keeping wealth in the region
Women in business: the success of women-only events, the Pathways to scale programme and plans to support women exporters
Why more women don’t currently export and what needs to change to support them
Collaboration between chambers across Scotland and the UK, and why Edinburgh needs to “tell its story” and attract more strategic investment
Liz’s advice for women founders: keep going, get a mentor, be kind to yourself, and remember you don’t need to be perfect to build something amazing