Dorset-based Atom Club has collected an award from the entrepreneur and former Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis. The SBS Small Business Sunday award was collected by the club’s founder Chris Ryu at an exclusive conference for Theo’s own business network. As well as the award, they also benefited from a social media boost from Theo sharing them with his 500,000 twitter followers.

Partnering with The Honest Agency, Atom Club has just opened the Dorset Science & Technology Centre – 2,100sqft of educational space aimed at getting children into the ‘STEM’ subjects. The project was started in May last year and includes a planetarium, robot battle arena, IT suite, greenscreen and an educational shop.

Chris Ryu, Founder of Atom Club said; “I’ve always admired Theo and enjoyed watching him on Dragon’s Den, so to receive recognition from him is a real boost to morale. This is a labour of love, one that I’m very proud of and so it was great hearing about one of Theo’s projects he feels the same about. We’ve already seen a boost in support for the project since being selected by Theo and are about to open a new exhibit.”

Theo Paphitis said: “We are thrilled to welcome new SBS winners and highlight just how important it is to support our small businesses here in the UK. My vision is that everyone who has ever won becomes part of a friendly club; like-minded individuals who can share successes and learnings. The website will also give a valuable profile to the winners chosen and I wish Atom Club every success.”

Atom Club is a non-profit established in 2016 as a way of another local social enterprise (The Honest Agency) to give back to the community by offering science & coding support to rural schools. In 2017 it became a registered CIC and signed a three-year lease on a derelict unit with the aim of transforming it into a dedicated STEM education centre.

Small Business Sunday was created by Theo Paphitis in October 2010. For further information about Atom Club please contact Chris Ryu on 01258 808577.