Dragons’ Den kicked off again tonight and I was quite surprised to see a band approach the Dragons for £75,000. The band put forward their proposal, and then sang a song for the five business gurus in the room.

I loved it when Theo Paphitis asked them if they saw Simon Cowell in the room, as my first thought was also that they were on the wrong TV show.

Duncan Bannantyne kicked off the bidding by offering the band their £75,000 but in return wanted 50% of all profits from future album sales until his investment was recouped and then his percentage would drop to 10%. Deborah and Theo put a similar offer on the table, however would only drop their final percentage to 20% but offered more in the way of expertise and industry experience. Peter offered the band the full amount also and wanted a flat rate of 30% of all future income. Read more & comment »

British Millionaire, Theo Paphitis, has revealed that he has raked in even more money than usual over the last few years, thanks to his involvement in BBC reality TV show, The Dragons’ Den.

The La Senza owner revealed to The Sun:

“The best was the iTeddy. It’s a toy with a media player in its stomach – we’re making a fortune.

“Let’s just say the inventor, Imran Hakim, is now a millionaire.” Theo – who is worth an estimated £125million – added: “We’ve made more money from investing in wannabes than we’ve invested – and we get paid for being on the show.”

Brighton-based designer Sarah Lu entered the Dragons’ Den tonight armed with a set of small canvas dolls, each with the glaring face of a Dragon, hoping to secure £35k investment in return for 25% for her mini-me, replica doll business.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Youdoodoll at the weekend and it is such a novel and fun product, I was sure that the Dragons would jump at the chance to back Sarah’s company.

I was right, and tonight Sarah managed to ignite a bidding war between Dragons, Deborah Meaden and James Caan. James offered Sarah the full amount of money for 40% of her business, Deborah offered the same money, but wanted a 45% stake. Read more & comment »

Famed for their business prowess rather than their childish sense of humour, will the Dragons see the funny side of Sarah Lu’s creation the ‘Youdoodoll’, or will the small canvas dolls each customised with a photo of a Dragon’s face, fail to amuse and incur the wrath of the Dragons?

At 9pm on Monday 22 October on BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den, Youdoodoll will be seen on UK television for the very first time as Brighton-based designer Sarah Lu climbs the stairs armed with a set of small canvas dolls, each with the glaring face of a Dragon, hoping to secure £35k investment in return for 25% for her mini-me, replica doll business.

I don’t know yet whether or not the product attracts the backing of the Den, but after being sent one of the dolls to have a play with last week, I can tell you that it should.

On first examination,. the doll looks like any other, except for the fact that it lacks a face. But what makes this doll different is that in the box is an iron on transfer sheet, onto which you can print a photograph of your child, your loved one, or your favourite Hollywood hunk. Just imagine, going to bed with a mini Brad Pitt…..see the possibilities? Read more & comment »

Dragons’ Den returns for a fifth series – and it’s bigger and better than ever before, with nine all-new episodes. There’s also a new Dragon in the Den as James Caan joins Deborah Meaden, Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones.

The entrepreneurs are lined up, dry-mouthed and knock-kneed, at the bottom of the stairs that lead to their fate. Coming up tonight are professional David Beckham lookalike Andy Harmer, who wants £100,000 to set up his new celebrity doubles experience – and brings along “Will Smith” and “Johnny Depp” for support! Read more & comment »

Serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and multi-millionaire, James Caan, is to join the next series of Dragons’ Den to be screened on BBC Two this autumn.

Caan, who lives in both London and Cannes, is founder and CEO of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, through which he has invested millions in both start-ups and mature businesses in sectors ranging from retail and leisure to financial services and technology.

Commenting on his signing to the Den, Caan said: “I’m thrilled to be invited to be in one of the highly coveted ‘Dragon’ positions. In business I make a point of investing in people, as I’m a great believer that it is people who create a success in business through their passion and conviction.”

Caan has been creating, building and selling businesses for over 20 years.

In 1985, he set up the Alexander Mann Group, one of the UK’s leading HR outsourcing companies, and achieved a turnover of £130million before selling it to a private equity firm in 2002. Read more & comment »

After convincing the men from BBC’s Dragons’ Den to buy into his very own Reggae Reggae sauce, Levi Roots has now taken things one step further and opened his first restaurant.

Following his appearance on the BBC reality show, Levi found himself shot into the spotlight as major supermarket chains fought to stock his product. It’s great to see a genuine success story emerge from a TV show isn’t it?

The multi-millionaire Dragons are offered the opportunity to invest in more ideas in this week’s final programme of the current series.

They include historical perfumes, a lifestyle magazine for ethnic minorities, a DIY aid for tiling, a machine for giving golfing equipment a wash and brush-up before it leaves the course and a wire-less lighting system. However, will anyone walk away with the investment they need?

Wednesday 14 March
8.00-9.00pm BBC TWO

The multi-millionaire Dragons are offered the opportunity to invest in more ideas in this week’s final programme of the current series.

They include historical perfumes, a lifestyle magazine for ethnic minorities, a DIY aid for tiling, a machine for giving golfing equipment a wash and brush-up before it leaves the course and a wire-less lighting system. However, will anyone walk away with the investment they need?

Wednesday 14 March
8.00-9.00pm BBC TWO

Denise Hutton entered the Dragons Den tonight along with 4 children from her theatre school, who proceeded to perform the school jingle.

Denise currently owns 4 Razzamataz theatre schools and has franchised out 6 other branches. Denise was asking the Dragons for £50,000 in exchange for 25% of her business.

The Dragons were impressed by Denise’s pitch but were unsure of what she needed the £50,000 for. She first claimed she could use it to lend to potential franchisees, then changed her mind and said she could use it for marketing.

This seemed to scare off Deborah Meaden, Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones, and Richard Farleigh jumped ship because he thought that Razzamataz faced too big a competitor in Stagecoach.

However Duncan Bannantyne waited until the last final moment to reveal that he had in fact invested in Stagecoach and had sold his investment on for quite a large profit. He shockingly failed to haggle with Denise and offered her the full £50,000 for 25% of the business.

Duncan closed the show by saying:

“How could I haggle? It’ll be a fantastic little business”.

After his phenomonal success on BBC’s The Dragons Den with his spicy ‘Reggae Reggae Sauce’, Levi Roots has decided to release his catchy Reggae Reggae tune as a single.

Levi told The Sun:

“I want to give it back to the people and let them have it.

“I’m releasing it as a download and I’m giving all the money to Comic Relief.”

Levi has been amazed at the reaction to him since his appearance on the show, and he was bowled over when he was offered a deal with Sainsburys, who want to stock the sauce. Read more & comment »

12 year old singer, Michael McMullen, will serenade the panel of millionaires on tomorrow nights Dragons’ Den, in a bid to win some funding for his Scottish theatre school.

Will he get what he came for? Tune in on BBC2 tomorrow night to find out….

The People reported today that the biggest supermarket chains in the UK are fighting over the chance to be the first store to stock Levi Root’s Reggae Reggae sauce.

Levi approached the millionaires of BBC’s Dragons Den recently in a bid to attract some money to mass produce his spicy sauce. However since the show aired supermakrets have been inundated with requests for the sauce and the word is that Tesco will stock it soon and Sainsbury’s table sauce buyer Nick Paddison said: “We are in the final stage of talks.”

Well done Levi. I don’t know if it was the catchy tune he sang to the judge, or his fabulous presentation, but my mouth was certainly watering after listening to his pitch. I will be the first in line to get the sauce when my local Tescos gets it in!

Imran Hakim was seen approaching the Dragons last night asking for £140,000 for a 15% share of iTeddy. Imran has designed a cuddly teddy bear that contains an MP4 player inside, that will play cartoons and read bedtime stories to children.

Although Imran had yet to obtain a patent, both Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones saw an opportunity too good to miss and offered Imran all the money for 22.5% each.

After failing to get a better deal from Richard Farleigh or Deborah Meaden due to his cuurent lack of patent, Imran managed to talk Theo and Peter down to £70,000 for 20% of iTeddy. A good deal I think.

Ling Valentine stunned the resident Dragons on BBC2 when she turned down their offer to fund her business growth.

Ling asked the Dragons for £50,00, which she intended to spend on marketing her car leasing business, in return for a 5% share of her company.

Duncan Bannatyne and Richard Farley were impressed with Ling’s pitch but felt that for £50,000 they would need more of a share in her business. They offered her the full amount for 10% of her company each.

Ling stood her ground and walked away with nothing rather than give up 20% of her company…….you have to admire that sort of determination, I dare say Ling will go far in the world of business!