Magic creations put Neil in line for award

A Black Country-born businessman who won over the tycoons on hit TV show Dragons' Den has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Neil Westwood and his Magic Whiteboard creation had the show's millionaires scrambling to part with their cash. Now the 36-year-old is in line for the Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year award.

He will find out if he has won at a ceremony in Malvern, Worcestershire where 500 business leaders are expected to attend on July 17.

Mr Westwood, who has one child and another on the way with wife and business partner Laura, said it was an honour to have been shortlisted. "It's our first attempt at business and it was a surprise when I heard," he said. "I am absolutely delighted."

Representatives from the Chamber will visit Mr Westwood's Worcester-based firm next week. The business is on course to break the £1 million barrier for sales over the past year, a healthy return on an investment of £100,000 from Dragons Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden.

Mr and Mrs Westwood will appear in another episode of Dragons' Den looking at how entrepreneurs have fared since starring on the show. The episode is being filmed on July 1.

If business continues to boom Mr Westwood, a former pupil of The Kingswinford School who lived in Dudley for 20 years before moving to Worcester, says he will have to quit his day job at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. "If things continue like this I'm going to have no choice but to quit," he said.

Deals with high street stationery chain Ryman, Viking Direct and Office Depot have seen Mr and Mrs Westwood's creation - re-usable, portable sheets which can be stuck to any hard surface to form a whiteboard - hit the shelves across the country.

New products, the Magic Blackboard and Magic Blackout have just been launched. Mr Westwood said the blackout had outsold the whiteboard in its first two weeks.