• Swindon & Wiltshire Innovation
• Tuesday May 20 2025

Wiltshire gardening start-up Dig hits record turnover after Dragons’ Den appearance

Wiltshire gardening start-up Dig has hit record turnover after appearing on BBC’s Dragons’ Den three months ago.

The firm secured a £75,000 investment from dragon Sara Davies in an episode that aired on February 13.

Marlborough businessman Henry Bartlam and award-winning designer Alex Hollingsworth pitched their painting-by-numbers ready-to-plant ‘instant gardens’ to the panel.

Sara took at 15 per cent stake in the firm, whose flagship product is ‘instant beds’ – customisable, ready-to-plant garden packs tailored to different garden styles.

At the time, Dig was still a kitchen-table business with no warehouse, no fulfilment partner, and just one man and a van delivering its ‘Instant Gardens’ locally.

Since then, the company has undergone a rapid transformation. In just three months, it has scaled up operations significantly and, in March 2025 alone, grew its turnover tenfold compared to the same month last year.

Now the company is operating nationwide, having secured a warehouse in Battersea, a fulfilment partner, and branded, sustainable packaging, allowing for entire, curated gardens to be sent out in cardboard boxes.

Co-founder Harry said: “We’ve gone from packing orders on the kitchen table to running a warehouse that ships thousands of plants every week.

“Every waking moment since mid-March has been spent fulfilling orders. It’s been flat out, but in the best possible way.”

“This is complete vindication that the idea works,” added Henry. “I started Dig in lockdown, and it’s taken everything to build it to this point. We always knew people would get it if we could just reach them.”