Wimbledon Mum Tames The Dragons

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Deborah Meaden will invest in local business

A Wimbledon mother who organises second hand sales of baby and children’s goods has secured £35,000 of investment on BBC2’s Dragons’ Den.

Mother-of-three and founder of mum2mum market Cath Harrop appeared in front of the Dragons to ask for investment to improve her company’s website.

Cath began Mum2Mum Market, a themed baby and children’s nearly new sale that allows mums to recycle their outgrown baby and children’s goods, in September 2011 while on maternity leave.

In spite of having two children aged under two and no outside help or investment, the business expanded rapidly, taking on 50 franchisees.

Cath now has a network of local mums running Mum2Mum Markets in over 100 UK locations. She still holds her own sales in Wimbledon and managed to fit in having a third child, Mabel, who was a newborn at the time of filming and accompanied Cath on the day she pitched to the Dragons.

Cath said: "I was extremely nervous about getting through my pitch. Having Mabel to look after while I was waiting to pitch was a great distraction from the mounting pressure.

"Appearing in front of the Dragons and having Deborah Meaden invest in mum2mum market was a huge boost to the business and my confidence in my abilities. Having started the business from scratch it is thrilling to get recognition from someone as astute and well respected as Deborah.

"I didn’t expect to get investment. The male Dragons seemed to declare themselves out fairly quickly and they were right in the sense that Mum2mum market is never going to make anyone millions. But for myself and our franchisees the opportunity to work flexibly around our children without he need for childcare makes a huge difference to the life of our families."

Cath continues to run mum2mum markets in Wimbledon working alongside her children Freddie, Alex and Mabel. The next local event is on at Sat March 5 (2pm-4pm) at Ricards Lodge High School. For more information go to: www.mum2mummarket.co.uk. 

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February 23, 2016