Partner Article

Start-ups get pitch opportunities

Startup Britain and John Lewis have partnered to develop opportunities for British businesses to pitch their products to top buyers.

A pilot event this week saw 400 UK businesses apply for just 12 places to get in front of a buyer panel.

The 12 finalists in the PitchUp initiative were: hair-care products Concotion; clothing brand Sir Plus, who use unwanted factory off-cuts; gift business, GiftTin; pushchair designer Ruk-bug; rain-proof outdoor furnishings producer, Oily Rag; educational recycling toy idea, Beecycle; a craft fabrics firm, Love Me Sew; cot idea, Karecot; footwear invention, Halo Heels; OraGuard Ltd’s Nano-b-Toothbrush; and hand-made cushions, Hunted & Stuffed.

The panel’s interested was piqued by Beecycle’s recycling educational products and Love Me Sew, who both received feedback from the buyers.

Beecycle’s Managing Director Kenneth Cheung said: “The pitch itself went well and the feedback the John Lewis panel provided was priceless. They seemed to like my product, which I was chuffed by. They also gave me some really useful guidance relating to my packaging, which I’ll be addressing straight-away.

“I look forward to working more closely with a John Lewis buyer when I return for my one hour mentoring session. I was so pleased to make it to this stage of the competition. I had bundles of nervous energy on the day but fortunately it was much more relaxed than I expected.”

Anna Rigby, John Lewis’ Head of Buying, Home Accessories and Gifts, said: “This has been a truly exciting initiative to be involved in and we are delighted that so many start-ups have engaged with us through this scheme.

“We look forward to rolling out PitchUp events every six months and working proactively with an even greater number of talented entrepreneurs.

“We were so impressed with all the finalists. We saw a real cross-section of ideas and behind them sat a strong pool of very talented and professional start-ups. We are going to give them all an hour’s mentoring with departmental buyers to provide advice on how they can maximise their products for the retail environment.”

The buying team suggested that businesses in early prototype stage should give consideration to whether they will be looking to manufacture their product themselves, or sell the license for their inventions ahead of any pitching to buyers.

StartUp Britain co-founder Emma Jones said: “This is amazing news for start-ups. Securing the opportunity to get in front of buyers can be one of the biggest hurdles for small retailing businesses starting out. It can take months and sometimes years of work, and time is often something start-ups don’t have.

“Furthermore, the advice, guidance and mentoring the John Lewis buying experts are able to provide can be key in helping these start-ups shape future success. It’s also a really great example of what a difference can be made when big helps small.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .