‘Vibrant colours and sexy scents’: Steph McGovern-owned Gootopia back in profit
A slime business owned by broadcaster Steph McGovern has turned back to profitability after a period of rapid expansion.
London-based Gootopia, which hosts parties for children in which they play with multi-coloured slime, was founded in 2018 and has since grown from a single site to a dozen locations across the UK, including in Brixton, Bristol and Broadstairs.
McGovern, a former BBC and Channel 4 presenter who now hosts the Goalhanger-owned Rest is Money podcast with ITV political editor Robert Peston, was an early investor in the business and has helped oversee its expansion.
She has repeatedly mentioned the investment on the podcast, as well as the challenges facing the company as it grows, including recent business rates, minimum wage and national insurance hikes.
In the company’s latest annual report, Gootopia recorded a £16,000 surplus in its profit and loss account for 2025, turning around a deficit of £22,000 the previous year.
The company grew its headcount, hiring an extra 10 staff to bring the total to 45. But its tax bill more than doubled during the year as it counted the cost of its expansion.
The firm’s growth has been spurred by a tie-up with the world’s oldest toy shop, Hamleys, hosting events at its flagship Regent Street store as well as its site at Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush.
Gootopia has also launched a mobile slime party service, and has also begun hosting “brilliantly messy” parties for adults called “slime and wine” nights, at which guests can expect “vibrant colours, cheeky mix-ins, and even sexy scents.”
Visitors to Gootopia’s events leave with two pots of custom slime “to remember the night by”.