Sometimes courage is the quiet voice saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'

While on maternity leave with her second child, Virginie Charles-Dear realised that the everyday objects featured on children TV shows, like Mister Maker, were not so every day. “Who saves 24 ice lolly sticks?”, she says bemused.

Inspired, she founded ToucanBox. Where Graze and Art Attack meet, the monthly subscription box contains cooking and DIY activities for toddlers and children.

The business has grown exponentially since its launch in 2012. More than five million kits have been shipped to children across 30 European countries. In the past five years, ToucanBox quadrupled its revenues to £7.4 million. Meanwhile, it was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade in April this year.