Dotty Fish Founder Named ‘Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year’

Dotty Fish baby shoes

Dotty Fish‘s Founder, Helen Chapman – has been named ‘Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year’ in the South East region at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Dotty Fish is an online, leather baby shoe brand that designs a range of shoes and slippers for young children. Their core business is baby shoes, but they also have a range of accessories, including bibs and leg warmers for little ones.

They design their own shoes internally and their products are manufactured in ‘carefully selected factories,’ which they visit regularly.

All of their leather is tested to ensure that it is safe for young children, and all of their shoes are podiatry tested and approved. 

Dotty Fish works with The London Podiatry Centre, and the brand prides themselves on being affordable, whilst still maintaining their high quality standards and having the professionals approve their designs and philosophy has been an upside.

Helen Chapman, the Founder and Managing Director of Dotty Fish started the business in 2005. Since then, the business has grown and developed into a market leading company. With constant new ideas Helen has pushed the business to expand internationally and thrives on new challenges.

“I started Dotty Shoes 15 years ago on my living room floor. Our mission has always been to provide affordable leather baby shoes to parents around the world. We have certainly done this and with constant improvements Dotty Fish is now a market leader in our sector. Exciting growth to date and we are not stopping there – the future is exciting! There are no limits and as I always say – you can never have too many shoes!”

Helen Chapman, Founder of Dotty Fish
Helen Chapman, Founder of Dotty Fish

Recently, Helen was named ‘Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the GBEA – the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Now in its eighth year, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards (in partnership with Starling Bank) celebrates the hard work and inspiring stories of entrepreneurs in the UK, rather than the business’ balance sheet.

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With Covid-19 restrictions preventing the regional finals taking place as a live event, Helen won the award during a virtual award ceremony, joined by finalists across every region.

“Entrepreneurs [have shown they] stay strong, even during a global pandemic. Coronavirus hasn’t stifled enterprise. Entrepreneurs are creating new businesses and adapting to the crisis, as seen in this year’s entries. And that’s what we need to happen if we want our economy to bounce back.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, in a video message to the finalists

“Helen has a wonderful entrepreneurial story and I’m delighted for her to win this award. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on what she does in the years to come and look forward to welcoming Helen to the community.

Francesca James, founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards

“We’re entrepreneurs and we have spirit. We fight back and we’re very good at dealing with adversity. And Helen is an example to us all, of entrepreneurs that are creative, innovative, and changing the world.

Anne Boden, founder and CEO of Starling Bank

The winners of each category will now go to the National Final of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, with a date to be announced later, due to restrictions on large events.

On a finishing positive note: Dotty Fish were announced as a finalist for Amazon’s Small Business of the Year for Exporting in 2019.

You can find out more about Dotty Fish here.