When Island based WightStream Hydrocleaning Services entered a prestigious social media competition run by entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, best known for his appearances on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, they knew it would help to build the profile of their business but they didn’t think that they would go on to be a winner.
Paphitis, a British retail magnate and entrepreneur, launched Small Business Sunday – or #SBS as it’s known on Twitter – to help small businesses. Each week, Theo rewards small businesses that tweet him @TheoPaphitis and describe their businesses in one tweet including the all-important hashtag #SBS. Every Monday night, Theo reviews and chooses his favourite lucky six who are then re-tweeted.
Last month, WightStream were one of those lucky winners whose Twitter Ad using the catch-line ‘It’s what on the outside that counts’, attracted his eye and went on to be retweeted by Theo to his followers which number over 450,000, and was ultimately seen by 1.5 million people. This provided a massive boost to WightStream’s business profile.
Co-Founder James Whelan commented:
“Winning the Small Business Sunday competition has been an incredible experience and proves the power of Social Media in business.
“Attending the SBS Event in Birmingham to collect our winning certificate from Theo himself, as well as hearing from some inspirational guest speakers from the business world, was such a great experience. It has provided us with an opportunity to raise our brand awareness and review how to continue to build our specialist cleaning service here on the Island.”
WightStream provide a unique cleaning service to the Island and the South Coast using environmentally friendly methods designed to effectively clean and preserve the original surface.
Photographed L-R: David Tottman, Theo Paphitis and James Whelan
