Our second slice of igloocast is brought to you by James Winter, who has spent eight years as a house DJ, six years as a producer and five years as a promoter, running his own nights in Leeds, London, and co running two successful events in Melbourne.
Igloocast, brought to you by Igloo Disco, The Ultimate Party!
Since appearing on Dragons Den, back in Janurary, Danny Savage, the owner of Igloo Disco, has taken us on quite the journey. These unique, inflatable igloo venues have travelled across the UK, hitting festivals such as Beatherder, countless private parties, and now even corporate events and celebrations.
Even though the show aired in January 2017, it’s been a year since filming took place. With this in mind, we were talking in the office and thought it make for an interesting take on where the business has grown in the past 12 months.
We asked Danny about his thought on what has happened over the past few months and how appearing on Dragons Den has changed the business.
I bet it feels like ages ago, now, doesn’t it?
Yeah, I suppose it does. Dragons Den was actually filmed in June 2016, which meant I had to wait over 6 months to see it when it finally aired on TV. It was meant to be on TV in October, but they changed their plans and suspended the series until January.
Going on Dragons Den was an amazing experience and something I’d definitely recommend to any small businesses or budding entrepreneurs; as long as you have the confidence and determination in your product and yourself, you can’t lose.
Just being on the show has had a positive effect on the business and our brand.
What happened after filming stopped, did you see the Dragons for a chat or get any more advice?
As soon as the filming finished I was whisked off into one of the other studios to meet up with my Dad and James, who were in the back commentating throughout the pitch.
They then took me away to interview me about the experience I had with the Dragons and get my reaction to what just happened.
I wasn’t allowed to interact with any of the Dragons before or after. They come in, film then leave immediately, I didn’t even hear what the Dragons had to say about me or my pitch until the show aired in January!
Even though you didn’t get any investment off them, they seemed to really like you and the events we offer and were really encouraging Igloo Disco to keep growing. They had a “come back when you’ve proven it works” attitude – which you have, haven’t you? That must have been reassuring as a fledgeling business, at the time of filming?
Yeah, I was really proud of the way I handled the Dragons and the feedback they gave me was nothing but reassuring.
As a business, we went from myself doing all the work to employing 4 full time members of staff, purchasing another 4 structures and adding loads of extra hire lines to our range including sound, lighting, furniture and bars.
This was a huge investment that enabled us to scale the business very quickly.
Dragons Den was actually filmed in June 2016 although it was aired in Jan’ 2017. It was a long wait for it to finally come on, but it was worth it. Since being aired on Dragons Den we have seen an increase in our profits meaning we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon… apart from to wherever people want a party they’ll never forget!
I know you mentioned your phone going wild when the show aired and the website crashed. What was the effect in terms of bookings?
January was a crazy month. Crazy.
We did four months of business in just three weeks, which more than paid for the lack of investment by the Dragons.
The type of clients we have been getting has also evolved, we’re getting more corporate parties and larger scale events booking with us now. These bookings are also wanting us to plan and execute the whole event from start to finish. That’s perfect for us because we’re an events company, really, that just happens to use a blow up Igloo as our venue ha!
But seriously, this summer, we’re almost working at full capacity – you know that – with 7-9 events on every weekend. We’re now taking bookings for 2018 with many enquiries having to join our waiting list for available dates. It’s a good position to be in.
I’m proud of what we’re doing.
And what events stand out in your memory that we helped create with one of our inflatable igloos since the show aired?
We recently hosted an event with Fabulous BBQ in central London and invited lots of large businesses down for some free food & drink. The event was a massive success with over 150 business representatives in attendance, including Google, Facebook, Kenshoo, ITV, Lambeth Palace, to name a few.
We’ve also hosted a few celebrity parties, including for Peter Crouch & Abbey Clancey, Rafa Benitez & recently Kem from Love Island who is currently on the show at the moment. (Go, Kem!).
Where’s Igloo Disco heading next then?
We’re currently in the middle of a huge growth phase. We have 3 new full-time positions, starting this month, so we can build a better operations infrastructure to deal with the number of enquiries we’re currently receiving.
In October, we’re launching Igloo Disco Ibiza. I used to live in Ibiza, running parties and DJing, before starting up Igloo Disco. The timing is now perfect to launch the business in the world’s party capital. We will provide the same services we provide in the UK, but with air-conditioning instead of heating, obviously!
In December, we’re turning a central London Warehouse into a Winter Wonderland themed event space to hire for works/business Christmas parties. There will be 3-4 Igloo’s each with a different use, as well as loads of other bits needed for the best work’s part ever. We’re providing catering, drinks, fun activities, and even bringing in a certain world famous Christmas band. It will really be a unique experience for companies who like to be different.
Oh! we’re also appearing on SC4 (Welsh TV) on Boxing day amongst other TV/Media appearances within early 2018.
