Conversations with Founders: Andy from Dock & Bay

Why beach towels?

We started Dock & Bay nearly ten years ago. At the time, Ben and I were working together and meeting up every Tuesday for a bottle of vodka to brainstorm business ideas. Honestly, we couldn’t be bothered with what we were doing anymore, and we just wanted a change—something more creative.

Ben did some research on Amazon and came across these travel towels. They were dull, scratchy, badly packaged, and not very inspiring. They were a convenience item—small and easy to take around. Despite their bad quality, they were consistently among the top-selling products on Amazon during the summer months. Ben came to me with that and said “Why not make a towel that’s not just functional but actually cool, and something people would want to carry around?”

That’s how Dock & Bay was born. We had zero design skills at the time, so we went with stripes. There are photos from our first design days where we pulled down a huge red curtain from Ben’s house and laid strips of white paper across it. Originally, we called ourselves Cabana to match the cabana stripes, but that name was already trademarked. We pulled the production at the last minute and rebranded to Dock & Bay. And here we are, almost ten years later!

You entered Dragon’s Den. What’s been the most valuable part of that experience and having Deborah’s support?

Being on Dragon’s Den had a huge impact on our business. Going on the show was always a bit of a dream for me since I’d watched it for years. But ultimately, we did it to get exposure for the business. They say a 15-minute spot on Dragon’s Den is worth a million pounds of advertising, and we were hoping it would help us gain traction.

At the time, we had only just started moving into retail, and we had only one employee. It was super early days for us. Could we have survived without the investment? Probably. But the exposure we got was crazy. In around 48 hours, we sold out of stock that was meant to last us three months. We emptied out both of our UK warehouses, plus our Amazon stock. It was chaotic, but incredible.

Deborah’s support has been great. She’s really passionate about the work we do with B Corp and sustainability, and she’s always there to cheer us on. She talks about us whenever she gets the chance, visits the team, and attends our events. Early on, she challenged us in ways that pushed me to step up and be better. Her feedback made me realize where I was falling short, especially with understanding the numbers. Now, I’m way more on top of that side of the business, so I’ll never get caught out again. Overall, it was just an amazing experience.

Tell me about your B Corp journey

There’s a lot of talk on B Corp right now, with some businesses pulling out and claiming it doesn’t stand for what it used to. But I don’t think that’s the right way to look at it. B Corp is all about progress—about striving to be better for the environment, your people, and your communities. If you only judge a company based on where they’ve been, rather than how they’re evolving, then you miss the point. We’ve always aimed to be better, and that’s exactly what B Corp is about.

I like to be clear: we’re not perfect, and no business is. Any business that brings products into the world contributes to environmental issues, and it would be better if we didn’t exist in many ways. But my vision is that if we didn’t exist, someone else would step in, and they’d probably do it worse. So we focus on doing business the best we can, with respect for people and the planet. We do as much as we can within our means, because the reality is, as a small business, you’re limited by what you can afford. But we’re incredibly proud to be a B Corp, and we’re always looking for ways to improve.

You guys are quite new to Sandbox. What’s been your favourite part of being with us so far?

Being at Sandbox feels like we’re back to being a start-up, which I actually love. Everyone here—from your team to the other businesses—has that same spirit of figuring things out and supporting one another. It’s a huge shift from the office we came from, where we didn’t really talk to anyone. Here, we’re meeting so many people, collaborating on events, and there’s always a great energy.

What’s also been great is the ability to personalize our space. The support we’ve received from you guys has been a huge advantage. You’ve helped us create a space that truly reflects who we are, and that’s where the magic happens. We all absolutely love the office, and it’s been a game changer for us.