A Guinea Pig Circus enters the Den

Fresh from their appearance on Dragons’ Den, the husband and wife team behind circus themed, guinea pig accessories brand, HayPigs!® were full of praise for the experience, and grateful for the love and support they have received:

“Well, that was fun!” said Rik, co-founder and self-appointed ‘Ringmaster’, “Thank you to everyone for their wonderful words of encouragement and support! Appearing on Dragons’ Den was certainly an incredible experience and we genuinely enjoyed it (believe it or not!).”

Reflecting on her own experiences, co-founder Helen said “We had some incredibly positive feedback from the Dragons and are already well on the way to meeting our goals for this year. We will continue to champion the welfare and enrichment needs of guinea pigs and create products we know our followers and their piggies will all love!”

Dressed as Mr & Mrs P T Barnum (of The Greatest Showman fame!) and with a piggy under one arm, Rik and Helen made a memorable entrance to the Den. Their bright and colourful products created an impressive display and certainly got the Dragons’ attention.

There was some confusion beforehand however, as pre-entrance footage showed the Dragons trying to guess the animal in front of them.

“We can’t quite believe they all thought they were hamsters!” said Helen “I appreciate they were socially distanced, but seriously?! It goes to show, our welfare and enrichment messages are really important, shinning a spotlight on these beautiful and charismatic creatures is what we do best”

Rik & Helen pitched for a 60K investment in return for a 10% stake in their business. They were looking to expand their business into the US and migrate their website. Despite their best efforts, the sartorially splendid entrepreneurs left the Den without an investment offer.

In the post-show interview, Rik cheekily remarked “We think it’s a little bit rich that the Dragons’ call us up on our numbers when Peter Jones can’t remember how many guinea pigs he’s actually had!”

“It’s true”, said Rik, “Peter couldn’t remember if he’d had guinea pigs. I had to point him in the direction of the fun facts on his own website, where it says he’s had two!”

Viewers can catch up on the episode, Series 18; Episode 5, on BBC iPlayer.

Press Release: 4th August 2021