In 2008, a pair of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed brewers entered the Dragons’ Den with an idea.
They had a refreshing brand that rebelled against the corporate approach of most breweries – and a product packed with flavour to match.
But what they didn’t have was funding.
James Watt and Martin Dickie applied to the BBC show and “pitched their hearts out” in an attempt to earn financial backing from some of the best-known businesspeople in Britain.
But it wasn’t to be. BrewDog’s owners didn’t make it past the screen test, and were “totally crushed” by the rejection.
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Fast-forward 12 years: BrewDog is worth more than £1bn.
According to Watt, the offer BrewDog planned to put on the Dragons table – 20% for £100,000 – would have pocketed the bidder a cool £360m today.
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But whilst the rebuff was a big blow at the time, it actually proved to be a blessing in disguise.
The producers’ snub forced BrewDog to build an entirely different funding community-style model – one that offered equity in exchange for investment.
Their most recent campaign saw 47,000 people pump more than £8.7m into the company.
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“Loads of you asked what happened after Dragon’s Den turned us down in ’08,” Watts wrote on Twitter.
“We went back to the drawing board & came up with a radically new business model based on community ownership.
“Instead of 1 Dragon, we got 130,000 Equity Punks [and] BrewDog is much better because of that.”
During a dizzying decade, BrewDog has branched out from brewing to build restaurants and bars across the world – with premises in the USA, Spain, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, Belgium and France.
They’ve accrued a reputation for doing things differently, and even in the COVID climate – which according to Watts has been “incredibly tough” – BrewDog is still pushing boundaries.
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They were among the first to announce they’d be pouring their first pint at the stroke of 12.01 on 4 July to mark the historic reopening of English pubs after lockdown (tickets for the celebration in Manchester sold out in minutes).
But elsewhere, the brand is working with zero-emissions company Arrival to create a network of delivery trucks and become the “most sustainable brewery in the world.”
The BrewDog community – which might not have ever materialised if the brewers had met the Dragons – has also played a pivotal role in the Scottish brewery surviving the pandemic.
In an open letter on LinkedIn, Watt thanked his “brilliant teams” for delivering a “miracle against all odds.”
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He wrote: “We owe each other, and especially those leaving, a debt of gratitude.
“Their selfless act has allowed us to better safeguard the livelihoods of over 1,800 team members. Furthermore they all played a pivotal role in the development of a business that we, and millions of people all over the planet, know and love.
“Your contributions made a huge difference and you will forever be part of our story.”
Feature
Vanilli’s – the Manchester bakery and dessert spot that has carried on the tradition of an old Italian favourite
Danny Jones
Vanilli’s Cake Company is one of those names whose reach extends far and wide, with a history that goes way back into the past, and a deeper Greater Manchester heritage than you can imagine.
It’s one almost as rich as the desserts they’ve been making across the city centre and beyond for decades, but it also begins back in Italy.
Formerly San Marco Products, a fellow cult-favourite bakery, suppliers and catering company from way back, owner Sapna Kumar took over their old premises on Crown Industrial Estate over in Ancoats more than six years ago, and has been carrying on their sweet treat traditions ever since.
The difference these days is that it’s gone from more of an Italian ‘pasticceria’ to a Mancunian bakery with both local and Indian roots.
Born out of pregnancy cravings ahead of her third child, ironically, Vanilli’s Cake Co. went from an unfortunately timed passion project conceived on the cusp of the pandemic to a mainstay of Greater Manchester and North West markets and now part of a mini Manc empire in the making.
After taking control of the old commercial premises back in 2020, their understated but impressively high-output unit still has lots of regulars in the know coming in for the good stuff, but still operates somewhat under the radar.
Maybe that’s part of the reason their quality control has remained at such a high level: although they provide to plenty of vendors all across the city and wider region, they’ve never overextended themselves to the point that even the slightest of standards slips.
If you’ve met Sapna before – the charismatic matriarch behind this brand and others like spin-off Cake Bar Co. and most recently, Punjabee – you’ll know that she doesn’t do anything by half measures.
And yes, there are Vanilli’s desserts on sale here, too.
A familiar face at the likes of Foodie Friday and various other street food stalls across the 10 boroughs and even further afield, she’s been doing some of these events since the very outset.
Sadly, without going into too much detail, she admits that there have been instances where her generosity has been “taken advantage of on more than one occasion”, but they will never stop her continuing to offer a helping hand.
The difference this time, however, is that she’s not simply putting others before herself all the time anymore; the Manc mum who’s played mother to many through her work over the years is finally shouting about herself and her unsung but nevertheless dedicated and talented team more.
And not just a little bit, either (no half measures, remember?) – she proudly proclaims that not only does Vanilli’s serve up some of the most authentic traditional recipes, but she happily lays claim to whipping up “the best Manchester tart” you’ll find anywhere.
As for this location, specifically, she simply wants to give people like you a reminder that it’s been there for more than 30 years at this point
She’s also looking to rebuild support throughout the community by teaming up with local brands and creators moving forward. Again, it’s about time she finally got on the receiving end of ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’, which sounds like it’s long overdue.
Having recently put on a speciality spread for us, showcasing not only the classic but some fresh new ideas and creative takes on familiar, we can assure you some very delicious things are coming from Vanilli’s throughout the rest of 2026.
So, if like Sapna, you love “indulging in the sweeter side of life”, give a Vanilli’s cake, pastry or one of their other tasty desserts soon.
Find all of these and more at Unit 8, Crown Industrial, Poland Street, M4 6BN. (Credit: The Manc)
Blossoms deliver most rock and roll performance in years as Declan McKenna joins them on stage
Danny Jones
Last night, we were fortunate enough to be there in the flesh not only to see Blossoms play a special anniversary show in Manchester, but to witness Declan McKenna join them on stage.
A tiny part of us was wondering if we’d see Rick Astley roll out into the venue, but let’s just say we’ll absolutely take this.
Celebrating a decade to the day since the release of the self-titled debut LP – yes, we feel old, too – Blossoms announced the one-off intimate show at The Deaf Institute, a venue they hadn’t played in 12 whole years (good lord…), and it served as much more than a night of nostalgia.
But we’ll admit, the highlight was almost certainly seeing the ‘Brazil’ and ‘British Bombs’ singer join Tom Ogden, Charlie Salt, Josh Dewhurst, Myles Kellock and Joe Donovan on stage for their smallest gig since god knows when.
We’ve gotten somewhat used to seeing the Enfield-born solo artist popping up at random venues across the country and even performing DJ sets at local pubs.
If you haven’t seen that Kylie Minogue clip before, you really need to…
However, we don’t think anyone in the crowd was expecting this cameo, let alone hearing them perform a co-written track off the new record live in front of the audience for the very first time.
As if all of this wasn’t already a bit bonkers and left-field, the song in question, entitled ‘Additional Driver’, was self-admittedly so surprising in SO many ways that Tom felt he needed to explain the full story behind it and why Declan shouted “shoulda got the 192” before they started playing.
Yes, in some kind of Greater Mancunian fever dream, we’ve finally got artists writing lyrics about the region’s most infamous bus route that we’re sure most, if not all of you, can relate to.
But it wasn’t just this moment that had us debating in our heads, ‘are they the best Manc or maybe in Northern band full stop going right now?’, it was seeing them slip so seamlessly back into the more straight-down-the-line indie rock from their first chapter of studio material that did it.
Everyone knows and loves the biggest bangers from that inaugural outing: ‘Getaway’, ‘Charlemagne’, ‘At Most a Kiss’, ‘Honey Sweet’, etc.; but it’s hard to forget just how quintessentially rock and roll tunes like ‘Blow Rose’, ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’, ‘Texia’ and even some of the other deep cuts/early releases are.
Don’t get us wrong, we love how much the dressing up (musically and quite literally) they’ve done over the years as their production, creativity and experimentation has increased, but it’s always hard to beat that feeling you get when finding an artist’s first album – especially one as good as Blossoms‘.
In fairness, listening back to ‘Deep Grass’ all these years later, we’ll still remember how spacey, psychedelic and downright different that intro felt back in the day; it now feels like a fitting end to that maiden outing and the perfect jumping-off point for what has been a real sonic exploration ever since.
For a lad born in SK2 and lucky enough to have seen these lads right from the start, stuff like this will never not feel surreal to me.
Long live ‘Blossoms from Stockport‘, and roll on Songs From The Wedding Cake this October.
The Manc -
30th June 2020 
