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Andy Jefferies of Dock & Bay

Spotlight on Dock & Bay

Dock & Bay have to be one of Le Bureau’s most tenacious members; not everyone would be willing to take on a room full of investors – and share the experience with millions on TV.

But on Sunday 10th September, that’s exactly what Dock & Bay co-founders Andy Jefferies and Ben Muller did, stepping into BBC’s infamous Dragons’ Den to seek £75k of investment for their microfiber towel business.

We caught up with Andy to talk beer-fuelled brainstorms and last-minute nerves and ask the one question you all want to know…did they get their dragon?

Dock & Bay founders

Hi Andy. What’s the story behind Dock & Bay?

Ben and I worked together for two years back in our corporate days. We’d take coffee breaks and discuss breaking free from the corporate world and starting up our own thing. A few years on, we started a weekly, post-work ritual: vodka (beer slows you down), takeaway and a brainstorming session at Ben’s flat. We had a lot of app ideas for dating and travel then Ben came to me with the idea of changing the towel market for the better.

We both had a passion for travel and we knew towels posed a big problem. Traditional beach towels, although nice to look at, were bulky, slow to dry and caught all the bad smells. Microfibre towels weren’t as attractive and usually small but were really convenient as they are quick drying and compact.

So we set out to combine the benefits of both and create microfibre towels with a high-end look and feel. We pulled down a big, red curtain in Ben’s flat and laid white stripes of paper across it to trial a design that was inspired by traditional Brighton beach deck chairs.

What prompted you to apply to Dragons’ Den?

We applied in May 2016 when our business was in its early days and in need of investment.

When we got invited on back in January we were still very short of money: Ben had put his £15k wedding fund into the business to get us through the winter months (don’t worry, he got it back just in time!) and we only paid ourselves £8,000 each for the first two years.

Yet by the time we finally filmed in May 2017, business was rolling after a successful Australian summer and the Easter buzz. The desperate need for money had receded (although money is always required for growth) but the need for an established mentor had not.

Pitching in the Den to a room of successful investors worth close to £700m is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: it was a test of our business and a chance to talk about our brand in front of millions of viewers.

The pressure to do well was very high but that’s part of the fun. Make or break is what got us here.

Was there one particular Dragon you were hoping would invest?

We had watched at least two series of Dragons’ Den before going on the show and it was always Deborah [Meaden] that came across as having the best interpersonal skills, as well as a key focus on helping others and the community wherever possible.These are all things we strive for as the business grows.

Touker [Suleyman] was another potential due to his strong retail background but we weren’t sure whether his approach with people would fit us as a brand.

How did you come up with your pitch?

Ben and I watched loads of Dragons’ Den episodes to prepare for the grilling and rehearsed our script constantly for about three days! We didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

I had laid out the key parts we wanted to ‘sell’ and tried to put it across in three minutes in an engaging way, doing demos throughout. It was all focused around our product, our success so far and our plans for the future.

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How did you find the recording experience?

The worst part was waiting for seven hours in the green room for our slot in front of the Dragons; after such a long build up, our nerves really kicked in as we went in. Our mouths went dry and we started to forget our lines.

Ben and I had lived and breathed our business for two years, seven days a week. We were prepared for every question we thought they might throw at us so we had a few minor hiccups but nothing that seemed to put off the Dragons.

They are all business savvy and keen to make a good investment but once you are in there, the Dragons actually make you feel quite comfortable; they are looking out for you, however it may seem on TV. If they are giving you tough advice, it’s to make sure you don’t stray too far in the wrong direction or make bad past business decisions any worse.

We were in there for about an hour and a half so took a solid beating of questions. We came out alive, just sweating a lot.

They cut it down and made certain moments more dramatic but generally it was a nice edit!

How does it feel to have won investment from Deborah?

We’re really happy. There is so much potential to working with Deborah. She has a wealth of contacts that will open doors for the business and she has experienced the highs and lows of business growth. She is extremely down to earth and supportive and provides a support network, adding value way above and beyond the £75k that she invested.

What’s next for Dock & Bay?

Our big focus is to grow our online presence, cleaning up the look and feel end to end and becoming more consistent across all channels. We’ve got a very exciting campaign coming up in the New Year to help push out our name further.

We’re massively inspired by brands like Mahabis, Havaianas and S’well Bottles who have taken reasonably simple products and become synonymous with them in the market. That’s the goal, to be known around the world as ‘the’ towel brand and be famous for reinventing the traditional towel. That doesn’t mean to say we wouldn’t expand outside of towels if it was right as a complementary product.

But that’s long term. By next year we plan to push more into retail stores, bring out new product ranges as well as growing into new markets, such as Switzerland, which is our next step. Ben and I would move into all the markets if we had the money.

Thanks to our mentorship from Deborah we will be able to grow the business to ten times its current size and become the Havaianas of towels!

dockandbay.co.uk

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