Sahar Hashemi OBE

Sahar Hashemi OBE has enjoyed a successful career as an entrepreneur, bestselling author and business thought leader. Initially forging her success as the Co-Founder and former CEO of Coffee Republic, the UK’s first American-style coffee bar chain, Sahar has since built great authority as a business leader and earned an appointment of OBE for her services to the UK economy and charity. Now the Co-Founder of Buy Women Built and hired as a leading keynote speaker, Sahar is commended for her ability to build more creative, customer-centric and resilient workplaces in which a “can do” spirit is paramount. 

Initially beginning her professional career as a lawyer and investment banker, Sahar experienced her first venture as an entrepreneur when she joined forces with her brother to co-found Coffee Republic. Coffee Republic was the first US-style coffee bar in the UK, which quickly became one of the most recognised high-street coffee brands that boasted over 110 bars and turned over £30 million. Having presided over the business as CEO for five years, Sahar stepped down from Coffee Republic in 2001- authoring her book Anyone Can Do It – Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table to recount her experience. Sahar’s acclaimed book was translated into six languages, and is recognised as the second best-selling book on entrepreneurialism, closely following Sir Richard Branson’s books. 

Since her success with Coffee Republic, Sahar has used her entrepreneurial instinct in various other business ventures. In 2005, she became the Founder of Skinny Candy, another business that proved successful and was later sold to a large confectionery conglomerate. She has also spent time working as the Co-Chair of the Scale Up Taskforce of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of the UK Government, utilising her business prowess to help small startup businesses, and as a Board Member of The Hundred for England & Wales Cricket Board. She has also acted as an Advisory Board Member of Change Please, a charity training homeless people to become baristas, a Non-Executive Director of the ScaleUp Institute and a Member of the Board of Advisors for Curaden Global.

Sahar Hashemi OBE’s influence is evident, having claimed recognition as a Young Global Leader from the World Economic Forum, an OBE in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours, listed on the Director Magazine Top 10 Original Thinkers and the Maserati 100 – an official list of Britain’s most successful philanthropists, investors, mentors and advisors. In addition to her highly successful debut book, Sahar published "Start Up Forever" in 2019, which was honoured as The Financial Times Business Book of the Month. With such success as an entrepreneur to her name, Sahar is now a highly popular keynote speaker for corporate clients. When hired as a speaker, Sahar shares the lessons she encountered as an entrepreneur and the mistakes she made too. Sahar also outlines the habits that are instrumental in a successful organisation, habits that will make a business nimbler, more resilient, more customer-centric and generally a better place to work. If you are looking for an engaging and insightful entrepreneur to share their story at your next event, hire Sahar Hashemi OBE today!

In November 2024, we spoke to Sahar about what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Sahar Hashemi.