WATCH as Dragons' Den star Theo Paphitis praises Peterborough's Unity venture as it hits £750,000 milestone
Peterborough community project Unity has won praise from one of the BBC’s first entrepreneurial ‘dragons’.
Retailing expert Theo Paphitis, a long-standing member of the BBC’s Dragons’ Den in the the noughties, and who championed Up the Garden Bath when its future looked bleak during the Covid pandemic, has described the city enterprise as a an ‘inspiring example of what retail should be about.’
His praise comes after the retail venture Unity, founded by Up The Garden Bath, and based at the Queensgate Shopping Centre, had hit the £750,000 milestone.
It is the amount the store has generated for the local product makers who sell their wares in the store.
In addition, Unity has also welcomed more than 25,000 people into a free community Create & Craft area.space.
Now Paphitis has urged Up The Garden Bath to set its sights on hitting the £1 million sales target.
He said: “To have already generated £750,000 for local makers and welcomed over 25,000 people into a free creative space is nothing short of remarkable.
"UNITY is not just supporting small businesses, it’s changing lives and strengthening the community.
"Congratulations on this milestone — and here’s to reaching that £1 million mark.”
Kez Hayes-Palmer, who founded Unity with Dave Poulton, said: “Reaching £750,000 is an incredible milestone – but the truth is, it’s about so much more than money.
"Every sale, every craft, every interaction represents a life touched.
"Unity and Up The Garden Bath are proof that when communities come together, amazing things happen.
"The sales we generate in the shop directly fund our educational and environmental projects across Cambridgeshire.
"Without UNITY, these projects that change lives every single day simply would not exist.
"We are calling on local organisations to stand with us, to be part of this movement, and to help us reach £1 million.”
Three years ago Mr Paphitis put the plight of the Peterborough-based enterprise in the national spotlight when he singled out the business as part of his Small Business Sunday campaign (#SBS) on the social media site Twitter.
Up The Garden Bath was among six winners to secure a retweet from Theo to his 500,000 plus Twitter followers.