Orders are flooding in after our Dragon's Den success

12:40pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

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JUST hours after a Worcester couple presented their product on hit television show Dragons’ Den, sales went through the roof.

Neil and Laura Westwood said they were up until 2am on Tuesday processing hundreds of orders for their Magic Whiteboard after their appearance on the show on Monday evening, as featured in your Worcester News.

Mr Westwood, of Warndon Villages, said they sold about 1,500 last year, but that figure has already been exceeded after 156,261 visits to their website in just three hours after the show, compared with 1,000 a day normally.

He said: “I wasn’t quite expecting the amount of interest we had. We were still getting orders after midnight. It was ridiculous. I mean, don’t people go to bed?

“Since the show we have had hundreds of single orders and three proper trade orders for over 1,000 rolls. That was pretty amazing really.

“We have everyone helping us out. It is all hands to the deck. We have friends and family helping us take the rolls to the post office. The Post Office is going to be in for a surprise, I can tell you.”

Mr Westwood said ever since dragons Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden invested £100,000 in their product – a statically charged, reusable whiteboard that can be stuck up on walls, glass, wood, and wallpaper without the need for drawing pins, tape or glue – they had received numerous messages of support from people they do not know.

The 35-year-old said: “Some people I used to work with years ago said they nearly fell off their chair when they saw me and Laura bounding up the stairs on Dragons’ Den. It’s mad, but it’s a nice mad.”

Mr Westwood said they had also had some unusual queries about how to use Magic Whiteboard, such as using it to block sunlight on plants in conservatories.