Yogabugs
YogaBugs is a UK provider of children's yoga classes and is run on a franchise model.
About
Founded in 2004 by Fenella Lindsell, YogaBugs is the UK's leading provider of yoga for children of walking age up to 12 years. YogaBugs runs classes in primary schools, nurseries, children's centres as well as private settings. YogaBugs classes follow a story style format with children going on intergalactic adventures to rescue lost astronauts and sailing the high seas to search for lost treasure. Yoga'd Up classes include a variety of postures, partner poses and fun Yoga’d Up games. Children end classes with relaxation and visualisation techniques.
Founder Fenella Lindsell and Lara Goodbody appeared on the BBC Television show Dragons' Den in 2006. They sought £200,000 of investment in exchange for a 15% equity stake in the company. They rejected an offer from Australian multi-millionaire Richard Farleigh of £200,000 for 30% of the business. They also rejected two offers of £100,000 each in exchange for 15% of the business by Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis.
Since appearing on Dragons' Den, Fenella Lindsell has written a book, YogaBugs: The One Bug Your Child Should Catch, which is published by Virgin Books. Following a series on GMTV, she also produced a DVD, YogaBugs Vol. 1: Ocean and Jungle Yoga Stories. Fenella Lindsell is yoga consultant to the CBeebies programme Waybuloo which is shown in more than 75 countries worldwide.
The company is structured on a franchise model with teacher training opportunities. International master franchises are available, the first of which, YogaBugs Australia, was set up in 2010. A sister company, FootieBugs, also exists, with former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie as director.[1]