Laura Davies said she has since found her “calling”
A young woman “left the high life” in Dubai to return home to open a meal prep company. Laura Davies, from New Brighton, moved to the city in the United Arab Emirates to pursue a career as a cabin Crew member of Emirates Airlines.
The 25-year-old lived there for several years but decided, for various reasons, that it was time to move back to where she grew up. Now, having readjusted to life in the UK, the former Slug and Lettuce waitress claims she has found her calling.
Laura told the ECHO: “I moved to Dubai in March 2022, and what an experience it was. I got to live in one of the most dynamic and dazzling cities in the world — a place where the skyline looks like something out of a sci-fi movie and every day feels like an adventure.
“Leaving was tough, but sometimes life pulls you in different directions. I missed family, friends and the deep-rooted connections you can only find in the place you grew up.”
Wanting a new challenge in life, Laura decided to take over the running of Benno Box, a healthy meal company on Upper Parliament Street. Founded in 2020, the brand offers high-protein meals, oat pots, and snacks, and during the past five years, it has supplied over 2,000 customers.
Despite the company’s success, founder Andrew Kelly decided to relocate to America to pursue his running career. With Andrew looking for someone passionate about taking on the business, Laura stepped forward.
Whilst living in Dubai gave her “a life of luxury”, she missed home, and Benno Box was the ideal opportunity to fulfil her dream of working in nutrition.
Laura said: “Working for Emirates and travelling the world completely changed my outlook on food. Experiencing different cultures opened my eyes to flavours and ingredients I’d never tried before.
“I went from choosing convenience food to learning how to cook with fresh, wholesome ingredients, especially vegetables. That’s why finding Benno Box was such a game changer for me, and now I’m all about making nutrition easy and enjoyable for others.”
“Coming back home was a culture shock at first — readjusting to UK life was tricky as Dubai and Liverpool are worlds apart. It’s been so good to reconnect with family and friends and help people live healthy lives. It’s like I’ve found my calling in life.”
Andrew Kelly, from South Liverpool, began the Benno Box journey after he pledged to stop drinking on New Year’s Eve in 2019 – a promise he told the ECHO he would keep to himself to the day “he dies”.
The 28-year-old started drinking as a teenager. However, as he got older, he began to hate how it made him feel physically and mentally the next day. He told the ECHO: “I’d go out to party, drink and be around the wrong crowd – people I shouldn’t have been with.
“I kept doing it every weekend, and I’d be fed up with it, but I’d still do it. I’d drink and I wouldn’t recover for days. I would make one bad decision with a drink, and it would lead to many more. I was exhausted doing things that weren’t important to me.
“On New Year’s Eve, I had enough and I just said to myself I wasn’t going to touch alcohol again, to the day I die. It was affecting everything in my life – my running, my training and my eating habits.”
With a newfound energy from not being hungover, then-23-year-old Andrew began running. He would run two miles at a time, a few times a week – a far cry from the distance he covers now.
He said: “I became addicted to how it made me feel. Running every day gives me purpose. Life without purpose is pointless. Waking up every day whilst everybody else is fast asleep and I’m out on the roads putting in the work makes me feel alive.
“I’m the best version of myself now and the best place I’ve ever been mentally. It’s amazing the difference. The second I stopped drinking alcohol, I recognised the difference almost instantly.”
To benefit his running, Andrew began looking at his food intake. He started meal prepping and became so invested in it, he co-founded a business based on it.