Candy Andy's sweet shop is beyond pure imagination
A sweet shop entrepreneur from Telford thinks he's found the golden ticket to his future, after his venture grew beyond pure imagination.
Andrew Lane, 26, has opened his shop, Sugar Plug, in Market Street, Wellington, after he started selling sweets from his bedroom.
Initially selling mystery bags, which went down a storm with Salopian sweetie lovers, he then started doing more bespoke orders.
Andrew started in October last year, but says he sold £20,000 of stock by Christmas.
"It was just a little idea. I had £300 so I thought I'd get myself started and it just took off. Within a month I was getting big orders every other day," he said.
Former factory worker Andrew ended up clearing out his bedroom and installing racking to turn it into a stock room, and the orders continued to pile in.
He puts his success down to his social media and the popularity in the UK of American sweets.
"All the kids are going crazy for them," he said. "It's a TikTok thing.
"Parents were coming and buying loads so I asked them why they were buying £100 to £150 of sweets at a time. They say it's because they aren't having holidays or going out anywhere."
Andrew has racked up around 15,000 followers on various online platforms, and has grown in popularity thanks to an Easter egg hunt he ran around the county, as well as donating goodies to good causes and local schools.
"I just want to give something back as well," he added. "I suffer from ADHD and autism, so I struggle communicating with people. This is something that I'm not used to but I've had the whole community showing me support."