I would visit any county in the UK that had "shire" in it!

This week's columnist: Entrepreneur Levi Roots

- JULIE ANN TRAINOR

It's a funny old world

You’ll probably know me as the face of Reggae Reggae Sauce, but it was a long road before my product became the success it is today. Initially, I began selling my secret recipe in food markets around London, but my dream was to stock it in supermarkets nationwide. However, retailers refused to buy it and this frustrated me. I was on the verge of quitting when my son had a brainwave. He threw a dart at a map and as it landed on Caernarfonshire in north Wales, he decided that that’s where I’d travel to next. Amazingly, for the years that followed, I’d visit anywhere in the UK that had ‘shire’ in it. Be it Yorkshire or Shropshire – that’s where you’d find me selling my beloved sauce. Yet, it was one afternoon at a London market in 2006, that my life changed.