What a week that was!

This has been a very memorable week for Dreamaid. We were featured on the BBC documentary on the 18th of May which then went worldwide on BBC News on the following weekend to a potentially enormous audience. Pity we can’t get hold of figures to tell us just how large that international audience was but we do have the UK audience figures. I believe the UK viewing figures were somewhat disappointing but I am no expert in this field. We had been advised to expect up to 5 million viewers but in fact the actual viewing figures were less than 1 million. Apparently the series had received some negative press reviews in advance and presumably this affected viewing figures.

However, despite the low viewing figures we have received a fabulous response and have increased our number of products almost three-fold in the last couple of weeks and our sales have been increasing dramatically too. Due to the fact that we are seeking investors at the moment I have to be careful about how much information I give but suffice it to say that we are very pleased with progress.

We have been approached by people from as far and wide as Canada, Mexico, India, Thailand, UK, USA, Germany, Switzerland all wishing to help us to achieve our Vision. There have also been a number of parties expressing an interest in investing in Dreamaid which we are exploring.

I think the most rewarding part of this last week has been the number of new Dreamers expressing their support for what Dreamaid is doing. As the documentary demonstrated, starting a business of this nature in a global recession wasn’t easy but we are now coming out of that situation and the only way is up for all at Dreamaid.

When I first started as a Director in business in 1992 a fellow board member and senior Director of the company once told me ‘do the right things and the right results will come’. Dreamaid is doing the right thing and I am confident that with the support of our growing community the right things will happen. Not only for our buyers and sellers but also for those in need that we are supporting.

Thanking for your continued support,

Peter McAteer

BBC2 Programme Arrives at Last :)

The long awaited BBC2 documentary which features the first six weeks to five months of Dreamaid is due to be shown starting the 18th of May at 8pm UK time. It is called "Theo's Adventure Capitalists" and is made highly entertaining by the presentation style of the successful businessman and character Theo Paphitis.

The programme offers a great opportunity to our Dreamers to illustrate the wonderful products that they make to a huge audience. We are expecting around a million visitors to the site and as we are still very young we need to ensure we have enough quality products from around the world to sell. The programme is principally being shown in the UK but will be going global through BBC World.

The programme will follow a similar style to this one last week which was following three companies in Vietnam. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00scx8q

The documentary is business led and therefore may not cover the social project work we are undertaking in Brazil with photographers from the favela in Rio de Janeiro or with Talentos do Brasil to help around 2000 artisans.

We will also be followed by the Open University and used in educational programmes for business students. http://www.open2.net/theosadventure/index.html

It is also planned to use Dreamaid as an example of 'Sustainable Business' which is the whole point of the business and social strategy.

Exciting times even though I may have to hide behind the sofa on a few occasions!! However, I am delighted that Dreamaid is sufficiently interesting to have captured the imagination of so many influential people and now potentially will have a truly global audience :)

Early days in any business are a roller coaster so enjoy the programme and help us to keep this train on the tracks. This journey promises to be a wonderful one for so many people from so many wide and varied backgrounds. All sharing one Vision of a fairer world which recognises the value of handmade products, globally.

Have fun and thanks for sharing the dream.

Best wishes,

Peter McAteer