News / Tech
‘The birth of a new idea relies on graft, tenacity and vision’
Jess Saumarez loathes the epithet ‘female entrepreneur’. Just ‘entrepreneur’ will do she tells us as the prefix ‘female’ would allude to a different yardstick applied to women.
Before the age of 25, Saumarez achieved what many would only dream of in a lifetime.
She had co-developed two free-to-download apps and came to prominence as a certified digital marketing leader, consultant and branding expert. Though she hails from a family of entrepreneurs she has carved her own path from a tender age.
The entrpreneur recounts her first business venture. “I decided to go down the business route from a young age. I wasn’t even five before I was going down the road and knocking on doors selling cards that I’ve made. It’s just always in my blood,” she tells Bristol24/7.
Saumarez graduated from University of Bath in international management. She is fluent in several languages and says she loves taking risks, networking, being creative in problem solving – entrepreneurship has been a natural fit.
“I think people are waking up now to the fact that is it worth working from 8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday? It’s not. It’s about building a life that caters for all of our passions,” says Jess Saumarez – photo: Milan Perera
Her university studies orientated towards larger firms and Saumarez ended up working in businesses such as AXA and TBWA. Although these companies gave her a platform to garner experience, she hated feeling like a clog in a machine and the slow pace of big businesses.
As the co-founder of two free-to-download apps, Bristol24/7 asked her if she has a background in tech or coding. “What matters most is an idea or a spark of inspiration,” says Saumarez. She draws attention to tech hubs such as SETsquared, where bright ideas are turned into viable business models under the guidance of dedicated developers and mentors.
Her crowning achievement was Lux Rewards, an app much akin to a Tesco Club Card where points are accumulated. The app connects diners with high-quality restaurants and bars in Bristol, Bath, and London. Users earn up to 7.5 per cent of the total bill back in points that can then be redeemed for rewards such as spa days, meals, and getaways.
Saumarez met James Courtney, the co-founder of LUX Rewards, when they were both studying at the University of Bath. When she left university, she decided to gain some experience working in other startups and, after a holiday, came back to LUX Rewards while they were on the Just Eat accelerator programme.
“Basically, it’s air miles for restaurant dining in a nutshell,” says Saumarez about LUX.
“James had already started building out the app. He actually already had the first prototype out in the market and we contacted each other and he said, ‘I’ve got the business to this stage. I’ve kind of proven that it’s a good business and I’ve got a prototype. I need somebody to come in and help me make it bigger’. And so I was so excited to work with a university friend to grow the business.”
Another app she was involved in was Hedira, whose origins stemmed from a problem closer to her heart – the annual waste of houseplants which amounts to a staggering £829m. The app was founded in 2019 and was acquired in 2022. Jess was hoping to reduce this waste via a free-to-download app that allowed users to receive tailored notifications to care for their indoor plants.
She said: “I’ve always been a gardener so I’ve always had this passion for plants. And, when I was at university, I didn’t have a garden so my room ended up being full of plants. I had lots of friends that liked the look of it, but kept killing them [plants]. And I realised again, I was already working in tech yet a lot of the resources I was getting to look after plants was coming from books, sometimes my great grandma’s books. Can we bring it into technology? We moved from one physical brain to a digital brain, I guess.”
Her entrepreneurial acumen did not go unnoticed. She is the recipient of multiple awards and nominations – finalist for under 25 entrepreneur SPARKies award 2018, finalist for best startup in the South West 2018, investment from Just Eat, Angels Den and 130 investors on Crowdcube.
She was keen to bring her expertise and experience into other startups and help them take off – The Marketing Plot was born back in 2023, where she is the founder and chief commercial officer. The Marketing Plot is an outsourced marketer for ambitious projects – whether it’s building a brand, rebranding or working on a fixed project. She aims to fuse creative thinking with commercial strategies to bring them to life. The Marketing Plot boasts of an extensive list of companies on its books, including Avery Wine, HUSK, Gardin, Independent Health and Wellbeing Group and Lyon Tech.
The launch of Lux Rewards, a free-to-download app Jess Saumarez co-founded with James Courtney – photo: Jess Saumarez
Saumarez reiterated: “Blind faith doesn’t launch ideas. The birth of a new idea relies on graft, tenacity and vision. You need people who can fuse creativity with commercialism to bring your plan to life. I arm myself with the facts, dive into processes, and conduct in-depth research to nurture ideas and launch expert marketing strategies.”
She has plans already in place for a free course that anyone can benefit from.
“In the next year, I’m actually developing a free course under the marketing plan to help businesses set up a campaign,” explains Saumarez.
“What I see is a lot of people struggling with strategy and they don’t know where to start. So, I’m creating a free course that people can take over six months to get a strategy into place for their business.
“And that’s really what I’d love to focus on. I want to give back. I felt like I’ve had so much support from the community, a lot of knowledge from it and, if I can share it, then absolutely.”
On future plans, Saumarez mused: “To be honest, finding balance. One big passion of mine is gardening, that kind of stuff. And I think people are waking up now to the fact that, is it worth working from 8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday? It’s not. It’s about building a life that caters for all of our passions. I think that’s a really interesting development.”
Main photo: Milan Perera
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