Ex-Army officer mum tames the dragons and leaves the den with a £50k investment
Rachel Day, 35, from Tavistock, Devon, emerged from the den victorious in last night’s episode of the hit show, along with her business partner Merry Whitaker, 35, after three of the Dragons vied for a 10 per cent stake in their company, LoveKeepCreate
An ex-Army officer turned ‘mumpreneur’ has scooped a £50,000 Dragons Den investment in her baby keepsake business, which she launched from her kitchen table six years ago.
Rachel Day, 35, from Tavistock, Devon, emerged from the den victorious in last night’s episode of the hit show, along with her business partner Merry Whitaker, 35, after three of the Dragons vied for a 10 per cent stake in their company, LoveKeepCreate.
Now the pair, who met during officer training at Sandhurst in 2003, are looking forward to working with their new investor, Deborah Meaden, after choosing her over Nick Jenkins and Sarah Willingham.
“We were ecstatic to have three Dragons interested in our business, but we knew Deborah has invested in similar companies in the past, and she has years of experience. It was a no brainer for us,” says Rachel, a mum of three.
After serving with the Royal Signals for five years, Rachel retrained as a teacher but it was while she was on maternity leave with her eldest son Freddie, six, that she was inspired to set up LoveKeepCreate.
“Just before Freddie’s first birthday, my husband Chris was deployed to Afghanistan for a six month tour.
"We’d had such an amazing first year as a family, and although we’d been apart before when we’d both been serving, I felt really sad he was going to miss this milestone birthday, and also half a year of seeing Freddie grow and change,” says Rachel.
“I decided to make him a blanket, made from old babygros and outfits which Freddie had grown out of, to take with him. It didn’t matter that he was a tough, burly soldier, I knew he was going to miss his little boy a lot.”
Using her second hand sewing machine, Rachel carefully stitched a blanket for Chris before proudly posting photos of her creation on Facebook.
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“Almost immediately I had several friends messaging me, asking me to make something for them from their baby’s old clothes,” says Rachel.
“I was really surprised but agreed, and as more and more people contacted me I set up a Facebook business page to see if I could make a small business from my idea.
"Within days I had a waiting list of orders, I couldn’t believe it.”
Rachel didn’t return to her teaching career, devoting her free time to stitching blankets, cushions and stuffed toys as keepsakes for parents across the UK and overseas.
“After a year I realised I needed help as I just couldn’t keep up with it all on my own, especially when I became pregnant with my second son Charlie, now three,” says Rachel.
“I took on an employee to help me with the sewing, but I needed someone to actually help me run and grow the business too.
“I realised that Merry, who had been a very close friend since our Sandhurst days, would be perfect. After seven years in the Army, working in the Intelligence Corps, she had carried on doing intelligence consulting and was jugging work with motherhood and being an Army wife, as her husband Chris served too.”
In 2013 the friends went into business together, and in 2015 they decided to apply to appear on Dragon’s Den.
“The business was thriving but we felt we needed expert guidance to take it to the next level,” says Rachel.
“Neither of us have any business training, and we wanted someone on board who could help us expand the company and make it even more successful,” says Rachel, who gave birth to her daughter Harriet last month.
Both their husbands, who have now left the Army, were waiting in the wings as Rachel and Merry faced the Dragons.
“They’re both really proud of us and have been so supportive. Like us, they’re still amazed what began as a sentimental gift has turned into a thriving business,” says Rachel.
“Stepping into the Den was terrifying and it’s very gruelling and intense.
Even though I completed a six month tour of Iraq, I still found it a tough experience, it’s definitely not for the faint hearted!”
Rachel's business: