Latest News | 10 February 2021
Levi Roots link-up proves sauce of inspiration for Project D
Luxury doughnut firm Project D has revealed it has received business advice from Dragons’ Den star and entrepreneur Levi Roots.
The artisan bakery linked up with the Reggae Reggae Sauce creator after Lloyds Bank named it a Small Business of 2020.
The Derby firm was one of 900 businesses across the UK nominated for the national award, which celebrates small businesses who have shown inspiring energy and resilience in the last 12 months.
The company, which makes hand-crafted doughnuts, grew its annual turnover by 300% last year after pivoting the business to an online model in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its success impressed judges who named Project D as one of its 24 winners, lining up a mentoring session with Levi, whose Caribbean food and drink empire is estimated to be worth £35 million.
Max Poynton, one of Project D’s directors, said: “We had no idea we had been nominated for this award, so it was a complete surprise to find out we were winners.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from the mentoring session with Levi Roots, but it was really useful.
“He talked about a lot of things we already do but it was nice to have those things reinforced by someone who obviously knows what he’s talking about.
“He told us to spend more time in the boardroom than in the bakery and to remember that passion will always shine through.
“I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t get his guitar out, but joking aside, he talked to us about how to scale the company and what we can do to improve our business model in general.”
Last year, Project D was named the winner of Marketing Derby's Innovation Week.
The company was handed the award after impressing business leaders with its innovation during lockdown – changing Project D’s business model to a delivery and pop-up sales service, as well as supplying essential goods to those in need during a national shortage.
Today, the firm, which recently moved into an 11,000 sq ft bakery in Spondon, is currently working around-the-clock to keep up with rapidly increasing customer demand.
It has opened a distribution centre in Leeds to help serve customers in the north of the UK and has set its sights on conquering the London market, with ambitions to open a shop in the heart of the city when footfall returns to the capital.
