A GROWING town business was given the thumbs-up online by former Dragons Den star Theo Paphitis at a major business gathering in the heart of Birmingham.
UNIQ Furniture chief Andrew Smith tweeted the retail entrepreneur during the former Dragon’s Den star’s ‘Small Business Sunday’ event on Twitter and was one of six weekly winners chosen by the self-confessed shopkeeper.
As one of the winners, Andrew collected his award at the recent live event held at the ICC to promote and encourage UK small businesses which is hosted by Paphitis.
The event was a chance for the 2,500 winners to meet, network and listen to inspiring presentations from successful entrepreneurs such as Sir Tom Hunter, entrepreneur and philanthropist and Scotland’s first self made billionaire, who started his business with a £10,000 loan, selling trainers in the 1980s.
The Racecourse Road business, which refurbishes, upcycles and restyles furniture to its former glory and beyond, is also profiled on the SBS website with all the other winners from the popular business boost which runs every week online.
Andrew told the Observer he was delighted to have been chosen and the award was another welcome boost for his unique business which has gone from strength to strength since he opened the doors.
“It was great to meet Theo and to give him a small gift, handmade from reclaimed wood in my Pershore workshop and salvaged from school desks which would otherwise have gone to landfill,” he said.
“SBS is an excellent scheme and it’s great to have support from Theo because it’s not easy trying to raise the profile of the business.
“My furniture is made from items and materials which have been salvaged from schools, business and industry and would otherwise have been destined for landfill, giving these organisations another option rather than filling skips,” he added.
Small Business Sunday was set up by the entrepreneur in 2010 and Andrew is among 2,200 small businesses across the UK which have been given a boost.
Since leaving the BBC show in 2013, Paphitis has focused on championing small businesses and retains ownership of High Street chains Ryman, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue.
Anyone looking for a retweet should tweet him about their business on Sundays between 5pm and 7.30pm and include the hashtag #SBS.
Six lucky businesses are re-tweeted every Monday at 8pm and then invited to enter their profile on the website, attend the annual #SBS networking event and take advantage of the networking opportunities.
Visit www.theopaphitissbs.com for more information.
