A Dragons’ Den business is getting its UK launch at Ipswich’s Sailmakers Shopping Centre.

Kelly Chamberlain, who runs her successful Bear Garden teddy bear store at the centre, is adding another string to her bow as she becomes the UK’s first retail outlet for the Deborah Meaden-backed Just For Tiny People.

The formidable businesswoman from BBC’s Dragons’ Den ploughed the cash into an imaginative business making and selling children’s teepees launched by Surrey mum Effie Moss.

Now the greatly expanded operation is being rolled out nationwide and Kelly is at the forefront as the first shop to sell Effie’s range of products.

The teepees, which start at £75, are at the core of the business.

Kelly, whose imaginative make-your-own Teddy shop is at Sailmakers Shopping Centre, juggles being a mum to two little girls as well as continuing to teach dance and drama to the area’s schoolchildren and operating a wedding and events business on the weekends.

She said: “I had followed the progress of Effie’s company from Dragon’s Den because I thought it was a really good idea.

“Effie’s now gone into other magical and fairy type products as well and I thought it was a good fit with what I offer in my shop and when they asked for people to partner with them I put my name down and was accepted.

“Our tag line is ‘where imaginations grow’, and I can’t think of any better products to suit my current offering.

“I’ve been for the training in the products as part of the first 20 to offer the brand and because the others are online businesses or working from home I’m not only the first person in Suffolk to sell them but the only retail shop in the UK where you can actually touch and see the new ranges and order them.

“Just for Tiny people have an exciting future and I am very proud to be starting my new business alongside them. “