Wedge Wellys and other ‘Guest Speakers’ talk to 1,400 Students at SAVILES Hall in Leeds

“Dragons’ Den could either have made or broken us,” said Sarah Longthorn . “We see so many businesses going on Dragons’ Den and they fail under the pressure so we knew that could be a massive risk to our business.

“But at the end of the day, we knew we had a great business and hopefully the Dragons would recognise that and they did so it turned out well.”

Now in its 3rd year of trading, WedgeWelly, which employs just 3 staff is constantly innovating through the creative eye of Laura Booth who designs new products to stay ahead of the competition…This year they’ve launched its new Splash Wellies brand in addition to three new products under the WedgeWelly brand along with a young girls’ range of WedgeWelly boots – Misfits – after signing an exclusive deal with retail giant John Lewis.

“There’s lots going on for WedgeWelly,” she added. “We’ve got five countries we’re looking to export to in the next 12 months and we’re also looking to launch a clothing range of festival dresses for ladies so that will complement the boots very well.”

As well as running a demanding and successful business, Sarah Longthorn and Laura Booth is helping small business owners start out on their journey…and today they talk candidly to 1400 students about their success and the journey they had to make.

Laura Booth said “This course at Huddersfield University gives young people a chance to really understand how to start and run a successful business”