Warwick business booming under Dragon's wing

Warwick-­based professional photographer Linda Scannell has received a big business boost from former TV Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis.

In January, Linda tweeted Theo about her 'Photography for Busy Business People' training course during Small Business Sunday, an initiative set up by Mr Paphitis that runs weekly.

Theo selected Linda's message to retweet to his 460,000 followers and, as a result, Linda has gained more than 250 new followers on Twitter and received lots of interest in her business photography and videography courses.

Linda attended the annual Small Business Sunday Winners event at the ICC in Birmingham recently and received her certificate from Theo herself.

"Winning SBS has given me and my business a real boost," Linda said. "Many businesses have to try for months or years before Theo notices them. 2014 was a great year for me, being voted one of the Top 10 Most Popular Wedding Photographers in England and selected as a West Midlands regional finalist in the Wedding Industry Awards.

"And now this award from Theo has got 2015 off to a brilliant start. I've had lots of positive feedback from local business people who have attended my workshops to learn how to create their own photos and videos. Now that Theo has recognised my photography course, it's given me the confidence to continue with converting it into an online version so I can share my expertise with businesses all over the UK and abroad."

If you run a small business, Linda highly recommends giving Small Business Sunday a try. "As a winner, I am entitled to a profile on Theo's winners' website which has already improved my ranking on Google. The free SBS Winners Event was very useful too with inspiring business speakers and lots of opportunities to network with fellow winners."