Member Article

Harrogate entrepreneur launches UK first ‘upcycling’ venture backed by Dragon’s Den success story

Harrogate entrepreneur and businesswoman Donna Fenn has launched a new platform dedicated to the consumer trend of upcycling.

Remade in Britain is purportedly the first dedicated retail platform for businesses to sell items repurposed from some of the estimated 280 million tonnes of waste produced each year.

‘Upcycling’ has been championed by celebrities including Kirstie Allsopp, Kevin McCloud and Livia Firth.

The business launches with over 300 upcycling retailers registered and aims to grow its list of retailers to more than 1,000 in the next twelve to eighteen months alone.

Max McMurdo is one of these 300 retailers, the star of Kirstie Allsopp’s Fill Your House for Free and founder of eco design business, reestore, which was boosted after securing investment from Dragon’s Den’s Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis six years ago.

Max creates a number of bespoke furniture items including a V8 engine coffee table, bath tub chair and baby grand piano shelving unit.

Max said: “Upcycling is a movement which is ever growing in both popularity and consumer interest and it’s great to see Remade in Britain offering a much-needed platform to bring this vibrant community together.

“The beauty of upcycling is that there are quite literally no limits to what you can create and the wide selection of products and retailers showcased on Remade couldn’t demonstrate this any better.”

Remade in Britain founder, Donna Fenn said: “Increasingly the UK’s throwaway culture is being replaced with a resurgence of the ‘waste not, want not’ ethos from the past.

“The upcycling community is championing this with fantastic creativity, innovation and beautiful design and that’s what makes Remade in Britain so exciting.

“Upcycled products are highly sustainable, original in design and cost reductive so it’s no surprise that it’s a consumer trend set to grow exponentially in the next few years.

’The website provides an important platform to champion all the talented individuals and businesses who are already ahead of the curve and leading the way in repurposing unwanted items.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .