April 11, 2007 – 12:37 pm
This summer budding entrepreneurs will be fighting it out to win backing of one Britain’s best known business gurus, as Peter Jones puts his money and reputation on the line in Tycoon on ITV1.
Before the age of 40, Peter Jones had built a £200 million business empire made up of businesses ranging from telecoms, leisure and property to publishing and media. In Tycoon he will invest both his money and expertise in businesses he believes have the potential to make big money - and to make it fast.
“I believe Britain is an innovative and entrepreneurial nation at heart, but we don’t do enough in this country to nurture talented people and help them turn their business dreams into reality,” says Peter. Continue reading ‘Tycoon Coming To ITV1‘ »
February 21, 2007 – 10:17 pm
Roger Hind entered the Dragons Den tonight and I bet he didn’t expect to start a fight.
He was selling his product, the rotamate, a washing line that protects your clothes from the rain, and the birds! Roger was asking for £85,000 for a 15% share in his business. Richard Farleigh declared at an early stage that he would be prepared to offer half the money for about 15% of the business, but when Deborah Meaden offered half the money for 20% of the business Richard changed his mind and decided to ask for the same.
The other Dragons were enraged, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitas even went as far as to advise Roger not to take the deal.
But Roger was desperate for the cash, and the expertise, so he accepted the offer on the table and ended up giving away 40% of his company for £85,000.
February 21, 2007 – 10:09 pm
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”.
February 7, 2007 – 10:12 pm
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.
February 7, 2007 – 10:05 pm
The Dragons' Den TV show on BBC2 saw reggae singer and producer and chef Levi ask the Dragons' for £50,000 in return for a 20% share in his business.
Levi has been selling his own special hot sauce named 'Reggae Reggae Sauce' for 15 years at the Notting Hill festival and now wants some money to take it to a larger market.
Levi claimed to have an order for 2.5 million litres of sauce from a large meat company, the Dragons' read his offer letter to discover that the order was not an order at all but more of a projection and the figure was only 2500 lites. At this point I expected them to wash their hands of Levi and tell him to go home and do his sums.
Three did just this but surprisingly Peter Jones offered half the amount for 20% of equity, and Richard Farleigh chipped in with the remaining £25,000 for another 20%. Leaving Levi one very happy guy!
Levi will also be appearing on Harry Hill's show on ITV this Saturday 10Th Feb 07 between 6.00pm - 6.40pm singing out the show. Maybe his music career will do better than his sauce....next stop X Factor!
