Last week’s appearance on the hit BBC business show Dragons’ Den has catapulted Charlotte Morley, who left Bolton School Girls’ Division in 1999, into the national spotlight. Charlotte, a University of Cambridge graduate and former teacher, became the first contestant to talk the dragons into giving her double her initial investment request. Her pitch ended with Charlotte in tears having received £140,000 of investment for 25% of her business - £70,000 from Deborah Meaden and another £70,000 from Steven Bartlett, both of whom took a 12.5% stake.
Charlotte’s pitch had introduced her company, The Little Loop, as being the UK’s first wardrobe rental platform giving members access to beautiful and stylish childrenswear. Launching in 2020, she sought to address what she perceived as a major issue in the children’s clothing market – the problem of having to upgrade their clothes every three to six months as they continually grow. Her company offers an alternative to frequently purchasing inexpensive, poorly-crafted clothes that are disposed of after a certain number of wears. The service provides children aged from 12 months to 10 years with a selection of highly stylish clothes that can be put back into circulation once they no longer fit. The rental service works on a subscription service; parents can rent the items they want, keep them for as long as they wish, and then swap them for other clothes. She stressed that she wanted her business to be an answer to fast fashion, saying she wanted to work only with ethical, sustainable businesses.
Lots of Bolton School traits came across in her presentation as she showed her entrepreneurial passion through a measured, emotional and confident appeal. The Dragons were so impressed that four out of the five panellists sought to invest in her business. Deborah Meaden, who Charlotte admitted to having a ‘crush on’ in a platonic way, was very enthusiastic about the project and said: 'I absolutely love this, it's a business that makes me think I actually want to be a part of something that makes a difference.'
Leaving the Den, Charlotte turned to the camera and, beaming, said: 'I can’t quite believe what just happened.'
Prior to the show, Charlotte had commented: ‘I respect all of the panel individually and feel that any one of them would add an enormous amount of value to my brand. Being an entrepreneur can be quite a lonely experience and I always value other peoples’ perspectives. Running The Little Loop has been such an incredible learning curve thus far and I’m so excited about the response we are getting from customers, who don’t just love the service and the brands we work with, but also the feeling that they’re actually having a positive effect on the future of our planet.’
The Little Loop process was designed with the parent in mind. The simple premise is that the customer pays for a certain number of credits per month which can be exchanged for clothes. The number of credits per garment depends on the label, the item, and the number of times it has been worn. The subscription fee includes unlimited swaps; laundry of the clothes that are returned and insurance against stains and wear and tear. The Little Loop only uses reusable bags to package clothes, which can be used up to 2,000 times, as well as eco-friendly tissue paper and stickers.
The brands stocked by The Little Loop mirror Charlotte’s own sustainable values. This includes fair pay for garment workers, use of sustainable materials and garments that are built to endure. Rather than wholesaling stock to rent out, The Little Loop builds partnerships with suppliers. This means that even whilst the clothes are being rented by The Little Loop customers, they are still owned by the clothing brands, who then take a share of each rental revenue. The system means that the longer the garment is rented out for, the more revenue the brand will receive for it; making it a system which rewards brands based on durability.
This Daily Mail covers the story.
You can watch the show on BBC iPlayer (Charlotte appears after 43 mins and 30 seconds).
