Bristol entrepreneur Ellen Green, who walked away from TV show Dragons’ Den empty-handed last month, has now secured a £30,000 investment for her Blue Badge Company.
Three of the dragons offered funding in return for shares in her business, which sells stylish living aids, with retail tycoon Touker Suleyman pledging £70,000 for a 35% stake.
But Ellen, pictured, politely turned down the offers saying she did not want to give away such a large chunk of shares – and has now secured £30,000 from peer-to-peer loan company Funding Circle for no equity. 
Ellen launched the business in 2011 when she decided it was time to scale up a concept dreamt up with a friend in the back bedroom of their shared house.
Fed up with what they saw as the universally dull, clinical products available to disabled consumers, Ellen and her friend, a Blue Badge holder, wanted to create colourful display wallets to inject some style into the disability market.
Montpelier-based Blue Badge Company has now sold more than 100,000 of its wallets across the UK and expanded to produce a range of attractive and practical yet design-led living aids including folding walking stick bags and lap trays.
Its workforce has grown from one to 20 in the past two years – after winning contracts to supply 2,500 Boots stores nationwide, the Post Office and Halfords – while turnover has quadrupled in the same period from £64,000 to £250,000 and looks set to hit nearly £400,000 this financial year.
Ellen, who is the firm’s sole director, said: “I can’t believe how far we have come as a company since we had the idea of hand-stitching specially designed wallets for disabled parking permits.
“Appearing on Dragons’ Den was just one of the many amazing experiences I’ve been fortunate to have since we launched the company.
“The new funding will help us to expand our product lines complementing new designs we have launched this month including a range of folding walking stick bags and collections inspired by William Morris and Roald Dahl.”
All Blue Badge Company products are British made and about 40% of the workforce either has a disability or is a primary care giver, ensuring the team has a first-hand appreciation of disabilities from mental health issues to physical impairments.
“Because of the way we manufacture, we can provide jobs and training for those with limited work options, like people who have domestic responsibilities or disabilities,” Ellen said.
“One thing that has always driven me is the idea that business has a responsibility to be good for society and I have discovered that a rewarding, sustainable job can change someone’s life – I’ve seen it first hand and it’s the part of the company that we are all most proud.”
The company’s big breakthrough came in 2013 when a Boots buyer spotted Blue Badge Company at a trade exhibition and placed an order for 10,000 wallets – dwarfing the 8,000 the company had made in its previous two years.
Responding to the demand for greater choice and control among older and disabled consumers, Blue Badge Company now produces hot water bottle covers, relaxing wheat warmers and an executive leather collection of its popular display wallets.
