CREATIVE THINKING
Cover story
Business soars for Bath pop-up entrepreneur following Dragons ' Den win
After braving the Dragons ’ Den armed with an idea for a pop-up chess set , Bath-based paper engineer David Hawcock recently secured a joint investment from top business leaders Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman .
David , who manufactures products and pop-up books from paper , runs two companies from his studio in Bath . Infinite Jest ( founded in 2013 ) takes on commissions and creates pop-up books , whilst Pop-Up Games Ltd was established last year to produce the chess set and receive investment . He has seen his creations appear in several high-profile TV programmes and films including the movies Paddington 2 and Mary Poppins Returns .
The Business Exchange ' s Nick Batten caught up with David to learn more about him and find out how things are developing since his success on Dragons ’ Den …
How did your business begin and how did you get into paper engineering ? Way back when I was at college and doing graphic design , I was making card models of buildings , taking photos from all angles of the building and applying these to the models to create a 3D photo . So , I was basically self-taught .
When I graduated , I started touting a portfolio around London picking up commissions , and I ’ ve been doing it ever since ! I drifted into the publishing side of things because it ’ s the best way of using those kinds of skills .
Do you employ anyone ? I ’ m the only employee of the company , but I have a number of very trusted and reliable freelancers who all work in Bath . I couldn ’ t do it without them and we ’ re very supportive of each other .
Which industries give you the most work ? It ’ s mainly publishing and advertising but increasingly I ’ ve been doing a lot of film and TV as well , but publishing is the core of it and mainly children ’ s books .
Occasionally there is some cross-over such as our work for well-known buildings and stadiums like Manchester United ’ s Old Trafford and Arsenal ’ s Emirates .
You ’ ve had some very high-profile customers . How have you gone about securing these commissions ? Usually , people contact me through the website – it ’ s a very effective shop front . And when it ’ s happened once , it happens again .
So , when I did the work on Paddington 2 , other things led from that . On the publishing side of things , I will create an idea , approach publishers and suggest it as a concept .
Why did you decide to go on Dragons ’ Den and what was the experience like ? I was running a Kickstarter campaign with the chess set and then the producer of Dragon ’ s Den contacted me from the BBC asking if I would want to pitch it on the programme .
I was in the den for over an hour and forty-five minutes , so it gets cut down dramatically . It ’ s quite an ordeal when you ’ re in there , but very positive in my case . We ’ ve sold out of the chess set completely since the programme aired and are now reprinting it .
What are the advantages of being based in Bath ? Bath ’ s a beautiful place . I used to work in London for a long time , but Bath is a better way of life . A lot of work comes from London though , there ’ s no question .
When you ’ re not creating pop-ups how do you like to spend your time ? I scuba dive a lot in Cornwall and have a passion for old Land Rovers - I own a 1958 series 1 , and a 1996 Defender .
I also listen to a lot of music … but on CD . I have a very nice Naim system with Wilson Benesch speakers – none of this streaming nonsense !
Do you have any tips for people wanting to start up or grow a small creative business ? I would recommend Kickstarter . It ’ s an amazing platform for creatives . I ’ ve been involved with three Kickstarter campaigns , two with companies that work with Warhammer , and they ’ ve been monumentally successful !
For more info : www . hawcockbooks . co . uk
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