Carrie's brewing up success in coffee business

She has also had Harrods knocking at her door – and has now set her sights on John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.

It is a dream come true for Carrie – a mother of four – who only set up her business The Little Coffee Bag Company, from an outbuilding at her home, 12 months ago.

She manufactures the individually wrapped luxury coffee bags from her home near Claverley, Bridgnorth.

And it all came about thanks to a 'eureka moment' after watching The Apprentice and the realisation of a childhood memory that she would do 'something amazing'.

Carrie, 43, said: "I don't regularly watch The Apprentice, but I had watched the episode where they had to design something for camping."

She said her husband, Roger, was going camping the next day and she couldn't stop thinking about what she would create.

Knowing he liked coffee, Carrie came up with coffee which comes in a bag – just like tea.

"I kept thinking what would I design. It was a thought that wouldn't go away. When I was walking the dog, I even had thoughts about what adverts I would have."

She researched coffee bags on the internet and discovered a niche in the market for luxury bags made with oven roasted coffee.

Carrie, who is mum to Lilly, 24, Sian, 21, Mollie, 13 and 11-year-old Jesse, handed her notice in at Claverley Primary School, where she worked, to devote all her time to developing her creation.

She invested in new machinery and tested filtration papers before discovering her perfect recipe.

"For me, there is no cutting corners. It had to be the best coffee with the best packaging," she said.

With no previous experience, Carrie then pitched her product to both Harvey Nichols and Harrods. Bosses at Harvey Nichols immediately snapped up her coffee bags.

Last month Carrie hand delivered her first order of 850 boxes of blends 1,2 (decaffeinated) and 3 to Harvey Nichols for distribution to its eight UK outlets.