Jamie Laing: Made in Chelsea and Radio One star’s Candy Kittens surges into the black

Candy Kittens, the cat-shaped confectionary brand owned by Radio One DJ and Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing has surged into the black, according to newly-filed documents.

The company, which specialises in vegetarian and vegan sweets, grew its revenue to £12m in 2023, up from £9.4m in 2022.

This increase in sales drove significant profit growth, with Candy Kitten’s pre-tax profit hitting £136,900 by the end of the year, up from a pre-tax loss of £523,000 in 2022.

Jamie Laing, who rose to fame on reality show Made in Chelsea and now presents a Radio One show alongside Matt Edmondson, started Candy Kittens with partner Ed Williams in 2012.

Since then the company has enjoyed rapid growth, striking deals with stockists including Tesco, Boots, Sainsburys, Asda and John Lewis and launching collaborations with major brands like Brew Dog and Netflix.

Despite its big-name connections, the brand has been discerning about who it aligns itself with. A few years ago Jamie Laing turned down a deal to be stocked in Primark as he said it didn’t fit with his vision for the company.

In 2022 the company became the UK’s first sugar confectionary brand to get a B Corp certification.

Since the end of its last financial year Candy Kittens has launched a £1m digital advert campaign starring Laing, running across Youtube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

No stranger to business, the reality star is the great-great-grandson of Sir Alexander Grant 1st Baronet, who in 1892 invented the McVitie’s digestive biscuit – although reports suggest that Laing’s father, Nicholas Laing, sold his shares in the company in the 1990s.