William Hale’s online sweet shop has gone from Facebook orders to supplying Ant & Dec and TV dressing rooms.
A young entrepreneur has turned £500 into a £1.15 million business by selling pick-and-mix sweets online – and even counts Ant and Dec among his customers.
William Hale, 26, from Wilmslow, spotted a gap in the confectionery market during a low point in his life. With just £500, he began bulk-ordering sweets and selling them locally, before taking the leap to post them nationwide.
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“I wanted to create a way for people to build a bag of pick and mix virtually, just like they would in a shop,” William told Hype Daily.
“At first, I was thrilled to make £1,000 a month. Then it became £10,000, then £50,000 – and now we’re closer to £100,000.”
He went all in on the venture, even spending £50,000 on the domain PickandMix.com, which he says was a game-changer in boosting his site’s visibility on Google.
Today, he has more than 150 varieties of sweets on offer – from retro classics like foam bananas and liquorice allsorts to ultra-sour bestsellers like toxic waste and bubblegum bottles.
His hard work has led to big-name opportunities. William supplies sweets to the dressing rooms of Dancing on Ice stars and the production team of Saturday Night Takeaway.
“Ant and Dec loved our sweets and kept coming back for more,” he revealed.
“Steph McGovern also loves our pint pots.”
What started as a small side hustle has grown into a thriving operation with two tonnes of sweets now stored in his warehouse.
“Every year has beaten the last in terms of revenue and profit,” William said.
“I was in a very dark place when I set this business up, and it has given me so much purpose and happiness in my life.”
From Facebook orders to celebrity favourites, William’s story proves that sometimes the sweetest successes start with just a small bag of change.
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