Shropshire couple expanding Stone Age activities after Dragons' Den grilling
Television dragons put the heat on a Shropshire couple they believed had a passion but not the business knowledge to back up their idea.
Naomi and Dan Walmsley from Coalmoor who live in a caravan on a driveway, have run The Stone Age Company since 2010, taking their workshops to primary school children across the UK.
They appeared dressed in full authentic handmade buckskin clothing on BBC's Dragons' Den on Thursday.
While they came away with a pledge from entrepreneur Peter Jones, they did not receive even a penny of the £40,000 they wanted for a 20 per cent slice of their business.
Naomi and Dan and two of their three children appeared in Stone Age clothing to make their pitch to the dragons for a slice of their money.
But since making a £3,000 profit in 2018 their business has made £18,000 annual losses. They are supported by family and friends and live a "frugal" lifestyle, Naomi said.
Even most likely to support dragon, Deborah Meaden, who shared that she likes to walk barefoot to "stay in touch with the Earth", said she was "out" of making any deals.
Touker Suleyman wished the couple all the best but he was also not reaching into his corporate wallet.
Sara Davies "didn't have a great deal of confidence" while Steven Bartlett they were "incredible guys" but that he "can't see the business."
Peter Jones gave the couple their reason to hug in the famous show lift when he said he was "happy to find a way" to help them with his business contacts. But he wasn't going to invest either.
He added that this could be the best way to help without him having to fire dragon's flames into their Stone Age cave.
Before the show aired Dan told the Shropshire Star: "We recorded the show in May last year, so have been having to keep quiet about how it went since then.
"When you are before the Dragons it is such a big rush of adrenalin.
"I think they really understood what we were doing and were excited about the fact we were helping young focus people on nature."
He continued: "The business has been going well and since Covid we have been going up and up.
"The Stone Age Company presented to 12,000 children between September and December last year, so things are going well.
"We are also expanding without Outback basics business and are doing survival skills and bushcraft for adults, as well as holding woodland retreats in the woods in Shifnal that we hope will attract people from across the UK.
"But our main focus remains working with the primary school sector."
