The world’s first ever plantable children’s book has won the backing of one of BBC’s Dragons.
Dragon’s Den panellist Sara Davies MBE has bought a 15 per cent stake in Leicester-based Willsow books – agreeing to put £20,000 into the business.
Willsow, which picked up a 2020 LeicestershireLive Innovation Award, makes traditional kids books with a difference – once children have finished reading them they cut off the back cover and plant them.
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Each book tells the story of a vegetable or herb and the cover is impregnated with 500 seeds that grow into plants such as carrots, parsley, dill, basil and lettuce. The books retail for £9.99.
Company founder Tom Willday and friend and business partner James Coulthurst pitched the product to the Dragon’s, and offering a 10 per cent stake for £20,000.
Three Dragon’s – Sara Davies, Peter Jones and Amanda Meaden – all offered £20,000 for a 20 per cent stake. Tom and James finally accepted crafting entrepreneur Sara’s improved offer after she improved it to £20,000 for a smaller 15 per cent share.
The mum-of-two said: “I love it.
“It feels to me like you would see it in a garden centre on one of the spinning carousels…. You could be on to a winner with this.
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“It’s a unique concept. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this before, so it seems like a great idea.”
In his pitch for the books James said: “There has never been anything made like this before and we really feel there is a huge space in the market.
“As soon as we got the book into people’s hands we knew it would be a success so we set out to sell to as many garden centres and gift shops as we could.
“However Covid-19 quickly put the brakes on that plan so we acted fast and began to work with a number of online resellers and e-shops as well as developing the advertising for our own website.
“We have been trading for just under 12 months and to date we have sold 2,400 copies and turned over £21,000.”
A spokeswoman for the business said: “We’ve bounced back from the global pandemic and are continuing our mission to educate future generations on sustainability.
“We’re gearing up for our campaign to get children back outside into the fresh air, in touch with nature.
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“We’re a Leicester based brand that produces the books completely in house with 100 per cent sustainability throughout our production process – all in Duns Lane, in the city centre.”
The business has also teamed up with independent Leicester financial advisor Furnley House to provide dozens of its books to St Patrick’s School in the city.
The firm’s charitable organisation, The Furnley House Foundation, has given all 223 students at the St Patricks Catholic Voluntary Academy school with a book as a thank you for the generous donations made for its Christmas Shoebox Appeal last year where the children donated supplies of toiletries, clothes, food and treats for the homeless.
Furnley House founder Stefan Fura said: “We have a Leicester heart and fully intend to make sure Furnley House doesn’t just operate in the area but helps to ensure it thrives economically, socially and environmentally. “For that reason we are thrilled to be able to work together with Willsow, another like-minded local business to invest into our community.
“The children at St Patrick’s School all showed that they too have the best possible local principles and pride via their fantastic donations to our shoebox appeal last year.
“Providing these books is just one way for us to express our gratitude to them for their giving spirit and charitable attitude.”
Tom Willday said: “We are absolutely delighted to be teamed up with Furnley House on a mission to educate future generations on sustainability.
“They are running a great initiative for the local community and we jumped at the chance to be involved! Willsow books are fantastic because you can read the amazing stories, plant the back page and grow real herbs and vegetables – meaning they can meet the main characters!
“We hope the students of St Patrick’s find this an exciting and engaging way to learn about sustainability while being out in the fresh air and in touch with nature.”