Willday showed the former professional footballer his company’s plantable children’s books, after which the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star shared a post about the books on his Instagram stories.
Beckham has 88 million Instagram followers and Willday said the post went viral, and demand for the company’s books has since skyrocketed.
“Meeting David Beckham was like a dream come true, he is such a lovely man and he absolutely loved the books and shared a story on his Instagram about us, I couldn’t believe it.
“We met the King last year, and as David Beckham is part of the King’s Trust, which is trying to get children gardening, I thought he would be the perfect person to introduce these books to.
“So when he went on a walk around, I just approached him and said, ‘hi David, do you mind if I show you my books?’
“When he took a closer look, he said ‘these are excellent, really incredible’, and he asked for a book to take away.
“Of course I gave him one, and I thought, nothing of it.
“The next day a photo of my book was shared to his Instagram story to his 88 million followers! Then other stars started sharing it too.”
Willday appeared on Dragons’ Den in 2022, when Sara Davies became his business partner. His company’s books are about superhero vegetables and herbs, including Carrot, Lettuce, Dill, Parsley and more.
“Once you read the book, you plant it in the ground and it grows the actual vegetable,” said Willday.
“It all started because I wanted to educate children about nature’s wonders. Some kids struggle to understand where vegetables come from – many think they come from Tesco.
“I wanted to show them that you can grow them yourself. You don’t have to plant the whole book, just tear the back page off and keep reading the story while it’s growing."
“We make all these books in the UK, including the seed paper. We also have the Royal Horticultural Society Christmas crackers and calendars that grow a different flower every month. [And] a licence with Shaun the Sheep that grows hundreds of wildflowers.”
Willsow is hoping to expand internationally next year, and the team already has a distributor in the US lined up. It is also trying to launch the books in Japan.
Willday said: “Retail is difficult, and print faces a tough challenge. We are just a small family-run business trying to grow and this has really helped put us on the map.
“We are now the UK’s leading manufacturer in printing seed paper. I have put my heart and soul into it, and hopefully it will grow for the next generation for my daughter and her kids, and so on.”
He added: “It is so amazing to think that David Beckham posted about my books, it’s just incredible that he’s willing to support such a small brand.
“He is just the kindest and nicest bloke. He didn’t mind posing for photos at all. Meeting your hero can be daunting, but I realised it doesn’t matter who you are, everyone’s the same.”
Leicester-based Willday Printers was started in 1945 by Tom Willday’s great-grandad Alfred, who passed it down through the family. Tom Willday now uses this company to print his books under the brand name Willsow.
