Dragons’ puncture hopes of cyclists dream

A former banker kicked things off by asking for a £2million investment in his tourist attraction which offers tours of an abandoned London underground station. After offering 51 per cent of his business, Peter wanted to know what the £2million was going to be used for and how the mechanics of the business worked. Having sold his house to fund the project, Peter added insult to injury by refusing to invest in the business. After Touker, Nick and Sarah pulled out of an opportunity to invest, Deborah remained the entrepreneurs last hope of an investment. Annoyed at the fact that the entrepreneur was more interested in Dragon capital rather than the experience and advice they can offer, Deborah turned her back on the opportunity to invest in the entrepreneurs tourist attraction.

Providing a solution to an age old problem, a pair of entrepreneurs entered the Den with a collection of silicon teething aids. With impressive numbers and the backing of a few major retailers, the entrepreneurs survived early interrogation from the Dragons. Sarah dug deeper into the businesses numbers and Peter wanted to know more about the other countries the business distributes to. After Deborah unearthed a flaw in the business dealings abroad, the other Dragons were left with a less than pleasant taste in their mouth. After a couple of Dragons knocked back the chance of an investment, it was Deborah once again who was left to decide the pairs fate in the Den. With confusion over the companies profits and margins, Deborah couldn’t invest in something she didn’t completely understand, and hammered in the final nail in the coffin to the entrepreneurs chance of securing the support of a Dragon.

With a history in sales and marketing, an entrepreneur introduced his adventure holiday for cyclists to the Dragons. Asking for a £250,000 investment in exchange for a quarter of his business, the cyclist had hopes of making his cycling holidays as popular as Skiing holidays. The entrepreneur suffered an early setback, as Peter, a not-so-secret petrol head, was annoyed at the fact that there would be more cyclists on the road. Peter also wanted to know what the money would be spent on, which led the entrepreneur to reveal that the holiday was not the complete package. After a misleading pitch, Sarah, Deborah, Nick and Peter decided not to invest in the business. With only Touker left, the entrepreneur walked away without an investment after Touker thought the cyclist was trying to achieve too much without having a solid base to build from.

A former fruit farmer presented the investors panel with her selection of cocktails. With impressive numbers and the backing from an array of respected retailers, the farmer asked the dragons for a £50,000 investment for a 10 per cent stake in the cocktail business. After mentioning another business which turned over £8million, Peter wanted to know more, but the entrepreneur was reluctant to shed light on her other business. A stubborn approach to the Den was to the Dragons distaste, but Sarah moved on to the branding of the product. With ideas to celebrate the products British heritage, Sarah admitted that she was struggling to move past her problems with the branding. After Nick, Touker and Deborah counted themselves out of an investment, and it was left down to Peter and Sarah to seal a deal. With Peter pushing for a 30 per cent stake in the business, the offer was immediately rejected by the stubborn entrepreneur. After the entrepreneur also rejected Sarah’s offer, Peter refused to budge on his offer and the entrepreneur opted to walk away from the Den without Dragon capital to show for her efforts.