York’s wizard business duo have conjured up a brand new shop as their magical empire grows.
Ben Fry and Phil Pinder, last seen turning down £200K on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, have just opened The Potion’s Cauldron in Edinburgh.
The beautifully appointed shop on Rose Street has echoes of the original on Shambles in York, but with a charm all of its own.
Selling the full range of shape-shifting drinks, sweets, bath salts and mini paint-your-own statues of Grobblenook the gargoyle, the Edinburgh shop opened yesterday (Thursday).
The pair also run the Hole In Wand mini-golf attraction in the Coppergate Centre and now in Blackpool too.
Ben and Phil made a piece of television history after they turned down the largest bid from a single Dragon – £200K – for a stake in Hole In Wand.
And their appearance on the show has helped boost their expansion plans.
Ben told YorkMix: “After conquering Yorkshire and Lancashire it was time to go north of the border.
“Off the back of Dragons’ Den there has been lots of interest and opportunities to take the magic further afield.
“As we mentioned on Dragons’ Den, we also wanted to go Edinburgh next.
“The shop on Rose Street gives us more room than we have in Shambles so includes our new Wand Photo Experience.”
The Edinburgh Potion’s Cauldron is not the only big news for the business, Ben said.
“It’s an exciting week as The Hole In Wand in Blackpool celebrates its first birthday on Saturday and will welcome its 60,000th visitor, and in York we are launching our Pride Grobblenook statue in with money from each sale and our Pride Cocktail going to support York Pride.”
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