Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne has denied claims that he has been hypocritical about his holiday choices.

The 60-year-old businessman recently filmed scenes for the The Great British Holiday Show, in which he encouraged people to holiday in Britain, he has since flew out to spend summer in his villa in France.

During filming Duncan commented: “People should be holidaying here instead of going abroad.”

Read more & comment »

It seems that Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne is about to put his not inconsiderable knowledge of revamping businesses to the test for a new TV show.

The Virgin Media show, ‘Save Our Seaside’ does exactly what it says on the tin and Duncan will play an integral role in rescuing some of the UK’s most downtrodden seaside resorts.

A spokesman for Virgin1 told the Press Association today, “We are really excited to be working with Duncan Bannatyne on what we hope will be a series which will capture the imaginations of the British people and encourage a regeneration of our seaside attractions – which are a huge part of our heritage” said a spokesperson for Virgin1.

An expert in the Leisure industry, Duncan will visit various seaside resorts around the UK including Barry Island in the Vale of Glamorgan and ‘Westcliff Leisure Park’ in Kent. In both resorts he’ll apparently “work on the attractions” and see how flagging tourist numbers can be boosted. Read more & comment »

Dragons’ Den judge Duncan Bannatyne has said that Prime Minister Gordon Brown should read his new book How To Be Smart With Your Money.

Bannatyne told thelondonpaper: “I think he must read this book and I’m certainly going to send him a copy. I’m actually going to see him in a couple of weeks’ time so I’ll take him a signed copy!

“Perhaps I’ll write another for him; How To Be Smart With Our Money!”

He added: “There’s a couple of ideas I’m gonna run by him, such as how banks treat small businesses.

“I know banks are suffering, but that’s their own fault, and they shouldn’t use that to whip small businesses.”

Duncan Bannatyne has revealed he and Peter Jones are to be dance partners on Let’s Dance for Comic Relief.

Duncan told MSN: Duncan said: “I am actually going to be dancing with Peter Jones for Comic Relief in March and people will see that on television.

“When they asked me to dance with Peter Jones I thought I’ll say yes because I’ll look good and Peter will say no. Peter said yes and now I have to dance with him – me and twinkle toes.”

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”.

Igloo. A refrigerated delivery service who asked for £160,000 in return for 8% of their company.

Anthony Coates-Smith & Alistair Turner chances looked slim at first as Peter Jones accused them of having frozen brains for valuing their company at £2 million. however it became apparent that the mens proposal could be a profitable one as a bidding war ensued amongst the Dragons.

Duncan Bannatyne made the first offer of £80,000 for 20%, swiftly matched by Richard Farleigh, who brought the equity down to 15%.

Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis tried to undercut them with a bid for 12.5%, followed by Peter Jones, who had clearly warmed to the business.

He offered all the money for 30%, but in the end it was Richard who clinched the deal by suggesting that he and Duncan offered half each for a total of 22.5%.

After a quick chat at the back of the den, Anthony and Alistair chose to go with Richard and Duncan’s offer and secured the £160,000 they needed to expand their business to two further UK locations.

Was anyone else crying tonight when the 14 year old Dylan appeared on the show tonight with his mum?

Dylan is an exceptionally bright and intelligent boy, who obtained GCSE’s at the age of 6! Dylan also wrote a 72,000 word novel at the age of 13.

Dylan was badly bullied in school and ended up being home tutored by his mother. His mum now feels as if she is out of her depth and Dylan has ended up mostly teaching himself.

Dylan requested £38,000 so that he could attend a private college for four years at which point he wants to attend university.

Jeffrey Archer was quick to say yes to Dylan, as was Jacqueline Gold. Simon Jordan took a bit of persuading, but finally agreed to give the money to Dylan.

Both Dylan and his mum were moved to tears and could barely talk to Richard when he came out. A really nice, personal story. I have really enjoyed the show tonight.

An exciting new big-money show that takes the saying ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get’ to a whole new level comes to ITV1 this winter as members of the public are invited to ask for a share of a £1 million giveaway to help make their dreams come true.

A number of famous philanthropists will make up a panel whose job it is to decide who, of those standing before them, is deserving of a share of the massive cash sum in Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway.

The five millionaires who will decide the fate of the hopefuls are author and former politician Jeffrey Archer, Scottish entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne, Ann Summer’s founder Jacqueline Gold, Crystal Palace Chairman and owner Simon Jordan and the MOBO’s founder Kanya King.

The catch is that the hopefuls only get one minute to make their pitch and they must convince the panel – whose own money makes up the £1 million – that they are deserving recipients of the cash to make their hopes and aspirations a reality.

They will then face a barrage of questions from the panellists before they decide how genuine and worthy of the money they are. The ‘asker’ must receive a majority vote or they will leave with their hope of winning a cash bonanza dashed.

Their needs could be as simple as wanting to make a surprise visit to a relative living in a far flung country and needing £3,000 to get there or helping a long-suffering wife who claims: ‘My husband’s DIY ruined the house and I need £10,000 to fix it’.

In front of the studio audience the show’s presenter, Richard Madeley, will wait with the anxious hopefuls as they prepare for the 60 seconds that could change their lives forever.

Anyone can get a slice of the fortune in a show which promises humour, raw emotion and downright cheek. All they have to do is ask.

FORTUNE launches on Tuesday 2 January 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM