Helen Pattinson

After studying maths and business at university, Helen took another two years out to study and to train as a lawyer, starting a training contract in London in 1994.

She focussed on corporate and commercial law, and became fascinated by the businesses she acted for and how they funded their growth but often felt she was on the wrong side of the table.

She met her husband, Simon, working in the same law firm and very quickly they decided that they couldn’t see themselves continuing with their legal careers for much longer.

They decided to leave their jobs and embarked on a life-changing trip to South America where they came up with the idea for Montezuma’s when they were trekking in Argentina in 1999 and discovers a tiny town filled with chocolate shops.

Helen was hooked and determined to bring the ideas back to the UK where the chocolate offering on the UK high streets was incredibly unexciting.

Almost a year to the day that they returned from South America, they opened the doors to the first Montezuma’s store in Brighton.