Willsow is the creator of the first-ever plantable children’s book!
While working at his family business in Leicester, Tom Willday discovered that he could make business cards out of seed paper and grow plants from the card.
Simply read the story, put the book in the ground and then grow the main character! All of Willsow’s books are produced in Leicester at Tom’s family printing business, Alfred Willday & Sons, and each book has a whopping 500 non-GMO seeds (ish) per book.
Over the last four years Willsow has grown (pardon the pun!) with seven books in the plantable range including a new book with Aardman’s iconic Shaun the Sheep. Their range also includes pens shaped like carrots (of course) and greetings cards made of elephant poo!
Willsow has also recently launched its first range of plantable greetings cards that can all be planted to grow your greetings into wildflowers! Stay tuned for their newest product, launching in September 2024, the plantable Calendar. This calendar has 12 different seeds, one for each month!
Tom said: “Sara’s advice and business acumen has been crucial in navigating us through the past couple of years.
“For example, Sara highly recommended trade shows. Sara helped us to understand and simplify the process of exhibiting. Trade shows were something we hadn’t really dipped into, and now these are a vital part of our working year and generate a significant amount of business for us.
“The most recent Sara Davies magical touch was her involvement with our export journey to the US market. Sara’s team both in the UK and over the pond have been fundamental in making this happen.
“We have met some great people and companies through Sara who have helped us greatly along our journey. We believe mentors can be of great help to young businesses as their knowledge and experience can provide access to a network that otherwise you wouldn’t have access to.
“Sara isn’t there to change our business, we have to do the hard work and keep on hustling! But she is there for support, advice and steering us in the right direction.
“Having Sara there when we and the business need help has been invaluable, plus she has been giving us TV sales training so watch this space!”
For more information, go to www.willsow.com
