Theo Paphitis SBS Winners Event, Edgbaston Friday 30 March 2012 PRESS RELEASE

In January Nicola Cunningham of Hartwell based business Wood and Willow was lucky enough to win #SBS (Small Business Sunday) a Twitter competition run by Theo Paphitis of BBC Dragons Den fame and the name behind Rymans Stationery and more recently Boux Avenue. Following this win, Theo announced an event would be held in March at Edgbaston for all the SBS winners to attend. This was the first event since SBS began in late 2010.
The event was held yesterday (Friday 30 March) and both Nicola and husband Neil were invited to attend. An amazing day was had by all, meeting lots of other winners and networking with businesses from all over the UK.
Theo gave a very inspiring talk on the trials and tribulations of being a small business especially in the current economic climate and made all of the “Winners” feel very special.
Nicola says” Theo is an inspiration to thousands of small businesses throughout the UK, listening to his talk at the SBS Event gave me the confidence and inspiration to carry on and not to give up even when I am having a tough day”
After his talk and Q and A session which lasted around 2 hours, he spent another couple of hours happily “smiling” for the camera whilst each winner had an official picture taken with him.
Nicola said “When we met Theo which was right at the end of the photo session as we are W and it was done alphabetically, I expected him to be tired and probably a little fed up, but he was a true gent and happily chatted and made us both feel like we mattered and he was pleased to meet us”
For a small business like Wood and Willow, every penny counts and they don’t have money to spend on advertising to reach a national audience, so being part of SBS is a fabulous opportunity and Nicola has taken the opportunities and grabbed every bit of exposure she can! She was a guest on BBC Radio Northampton’s John Griff afternoon show following her win in January and had some amazing feedback from it.
Being a small business is tough and the hours are long, returns can be nonexistent at first but with people like Theo Paphitis cheering small businesses on, maybe one day Wood and Willow will achieve the success he has.

BBC Radio Northampton John Griff Afternoon Show

On the Wednesday afternoon, I had a phone call from BBC Radio Northampton about my win! Asking if I would like to go on the John Griff afternoon show the next day? Yes, I said, would love to (a could hear a voice in my head saying "You would love to? Are you mad? You can't do this you are too shy and a nervous wreck most of the time" But I had said yes so that was that.
My friends and family know how shy I am and their faces when I told them what I was going to do said it all! My WH (remember him?) and children were great they kept telling me I would be fab, amazing, brilliant etc.. But I knew they were thinking "Oh Lord what on earth has she done?"

Eldest daughter drove me to the studio the following day (that in itself was enough to give me the shakes, but I thought if I am thinking about her driving I won't be thinking about the interview)

By the time we arrived I was sure there would be no way I would even be able to say Hello let alone talk for around 5/6 mins about my business and the SBS win. But to my absolute amazement, I did it! And from the feedback I have received it seems I was ok! The 5/6 mins actually lasted 12 mins and it really did just fly by. I made 1 mistake calling SEO (search engine optimisation) CEO but apart from that it was great fun!



Listen to the Interview