Social media sensation from Northampton shares his business is ‘fastest growing watch company in the world’

A social media sensation from Northampton has shared his business is now the “fastest growing watch company in the world”.

Tim Hayden is the CEO of Hagley West, which he set up after selling his house to pursue his dream of building a global company.

The successful entrepreneur has grown his business and social media following simultaneously, after his first TikTok video in March 2020 amassed half a million views.

Now, approaching six years since he set up his business, Tim’s following has seen him recognised all over the world and he has continued to create innovative ways to engage his audience.

Tim first spoke to the Chronicle & Echo in November 2022, to share his wild journey. More than a year on, he could not have predicted how far the company has come since then.

His most successful TikTok challenge is ‘Love Your Journey’, where his followers are shown his location and the first person to find him and say the phrase wins a free watch. This has been a hit all over the world.

When asked how things have progressed for him and Hagley West since he was last interviewed, Tim said: “We’re now the fastest growing watch company in the world. It’s exploded in the States and last year saw our turnover almost quadruple.

“Last year we sold 30,000 watches and one live event sold 5,000 in an evening.”

It was only in 2023 when Tim made the decision to move and live in America with his son for prolonged periods. The pair lived in Brooklyn for two months and they have now been to 39 of the 50 states.

During each state visit, Tim hosted a ‘Love Your Journey’ challenge and the current record for the number of people to try and find him is 684. The aim for 2024 is to complete the challenge in the remaining 11 states.

The businessman spent eight months of 2023 abroad, either in America or South Africa – where he saw family in Cape Town and took the opportunity to partner with a charity to donate profits to underprivileged children.

As his son is autistic, Tim also wants to give back and bring out a limited edition watch in partnership with the National Autistic Society this year.

“The business has really exploded, it’s unbelievable really,” he said. “We’re building up the team and I now have four million followers across social media.”

The brand was first set up in March 2017 and Tim worked on it part time for 18 months while building an audience on social media.

However, the pandemic caused delays and Tim’s son introduced him to TikTok at the beginning of the first lockdown – which he instantly saw as a “powerful tool” to grow Hagley West.

He began to travel across the UK to hand out watches as his account gained traction and at the end of 2020, aged 50, he sold his house to “pursue and fund his dream”.

This journey all began in Greens Norton, and his Northamptonshire distribution centre now deals with sales all over the world.

When asked how he has built his impressive TikTok following to 1.7 million, Tim said: “It’s about being innovative and always offering value.

“A lot of people do what they think will make them look good or cool, but you have to show momentum and value. I have the ongoing story of documenting the journey of building the brand and people find that interesting.”

It was on April 2 last year when Tim decided to open a Facebook page and after a viral video kickstarted the traction, his following went from 200 to 1.9 million in eight months.

He said: “It’s crazy and a massive boost for business. YouTube is the next focus.

“The best thing – and it always will be – is the amount of people who come out and find me. I even have people come up to me on holiday. It’s hard to comprehend.”

Tim says that Hagley West and the Love Your Journey challenge is “so much bigger than a watch” as it reaches out to people who may have gone through difficult times themselves.

The business founder hopes to treble his turnover in 2024, with a busy year already lined up. He plans to spend another seven months in the US, visiting the final 11 states.

Tim also admitted he has one eye on making it to the Sunday Times Fast Track 100, which is an annual list of the fastest growing companies in the UK.

“If we can execute all our plans, I want that number one spot,” he said.

You can take a look at Tim’s TikTok account here.