About Us
A founder-led studio built around real-world experience.
We support hospitality, F&B and consumer lifestyle brands and their founders through the strategic decisions that define their journey.
Why we exist
Building physical brands is different.
Restaurants, consumer products and real-world businesses carry complexity that generic startup advice rarely reflects. Margins are tight. Operations are layered. Strategic decisions carry real-world consequences.
Silverwood Rose exists to bring operator-level clarity to these moments.
Built by founders who have navigated growth, reinvention and capital firsthand, our work is grounded in lived experience rather than theory
WhAT WE BELIEVEOur goal is not to add complexity. It is to remove uncertainty and help founders move forward with confidence.
THE STUDIOSilverwood Rose is so much more than a traditional advisory brand.
We have built a studio around several interconnected pillars that strengthen how we support founders.
Strategic advisory sits at the core, supported by our events, story telling, podcast media and in-house ventures that keep our work grounded in real-world execution.
Every part of the studio exists to deepen insight, strengthen relationships and improve decision-making for the founders we work with.
Our Team
Rachel Hugh | Founder
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Rachel advises companies on brand direction, strategic clarity, and leadership alignment. Her career began in luxury fashion at Harrods and Bottega Veneta, where she developed a deep understanding of high-performance environments, customer experience, and brand excellence. She has since founded and scaled businesses of her own and advised organisations across the UK, Middle East, and the US.
Educated in France and the UK and fluent in multiple languages, Rachel brings an international view to how brands grow, how markets respond, and how companies communicate their value. Her work often centres on sharpening strategic narrative, aligning teams around clear direction, and ensuring that brand and business strategy work together rather than pulling in different directions.
Rachel combines strategic insight with a practical, collaborative style. She helps leadership teams see the bigger picture, make confident decisions, and move forward with clarity.
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★ Top ‘35 Women under 35 in Food tech’ Management Today
★ Top 10 Women in Food Tech - Forward Fooding
★ Top International Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2024 - Great Companies
★ Business Connect: 40 under 40 Business Visionaries - The Business Connect
★ Top 101 most impressive successful founders in the Food and Beverage Industry
★ Food and Drink restaurant entrepreneur of the year Award
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Rachel has spoken at top events, including the Global Economist Open Future Festival main stage speaker, E-Nation - Entrepreneur summit, The Restaurant Conference, Vegan Women Summit, Vegpreneur and Forward Fooding Women in Food Tech Panel.
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Rachel has appeared on a business Sky News feature with Ian King as well as a panellist on the BBC Radio show ‘’The Bottom Line’’ with Evan Davis.
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Rachel also saw her work awarded prominently in the UK Startups 100 list for three consecutive years, along with winning awards like the Marie Claire award for Best Sustainable Fast Food Brand in 2022, Forward Fooding - Top ranking Sustainable business award - 2020, 2021 & 2022.
Rachel works to support clients across a wide spectrum of business challenges, and helps them strip away anything that is getting in the way of execution. She brings years of experience, and a full basket of skills and is relentless in making businesses the very best they can be.
Neil Potts | Founder
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Neil works with CEOs and leadership teams on strategic direction, financial clarity, and organisational performance. His background spans corporate leadership, financial and operational management, and building several companies across different industries.
Having lived and worked in the UK, the Middle East, and the United States, Neil brings a global perspective to how businesses scale, adapt, and make decisions under pressure. His experience ranges from guiding companies through periods of rapid growth to helping them navigate financial challenges, restructuring, and major strategic decisions.
Neil’s approach is direct and analytical. He focuses on cutting through complexity, improving decision-making, and shaping operating structures that allow the business to move faster. Leaders work with him when they need clear thinking, honest advice, and someone who understands both the numbers and the realities of running a company.
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★ Top 101 most impressive successful founders in the Food and Beverage Industry
★ Food and Drink restaurant entrepreneur of the year Award 2021
★ Virgin Start Up mentor since March 2020
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Neil has spoken at top events, including the Virgin Start up meet up on how to start and scale a food and drink brand. He has spoken at tech events regarding how to build the right tech stack for your hospitality success and also Well To Do start up business event panellist.
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Neil has appeared on a business Sky News feature with Ian King and featured on several podcasts over the years.
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Neil also saw his work awarded prominently in the UK Startups 100 list for three consecutive years, along with winning awards like the Marie Claire award for Best Sustainable Fast Food Brand in 2022, Forward Fooding - Top ranking Sustainable business award - 2020, 2021 & 2022.
Who we work with
We partner with founders and leadership teams building:
Hospitality businesses scaling locations or concepts
Food and beverage brands entering retail or expanding distribution
Lifestyle and consumer brands navigating growth transitions
Businesses approaching defining strategic or capital decisions
How we work
Operator-led. Direct. Strategic.
We bring lived experience into every engagement, working alongside founders to pressure-test decisions and create clarity around next steps.
Our role is not to dictate outcomes, but to help founders move forward with stronger conviction and better-informed strategy.