Dragon's Den made its return to our screens tonight on BBC2 - perhaps a little sooner than one might have expected since I was remember reviewing the last series back in September. For those unaware of the show, this is where budding entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to a panel of "Dragons" who are looking to invest their own money in viable businesses. I like to think I have a modicum of entrepreneurial spirit, which is why I enjoy this programme and I think probably many online entrepreneurs in the UK watch it, and likewise for the versions shown in other countries.

Possibly the show has lost credibility though because I think it's become quite a lot about the personalities and egos of the Dragons and there's been too many reports of the deals shown simply not happening, but its still entertaining viewing.

First up in the Den tonight was a guy looking to take his contemporary puppet business into schools, community groups and young offenders institutions. Certainly the idea of tackling juvenile delinquency through the art of puppetry wasn't something that had occurred to me, but the panel liked the idea. Their main concern though was the business he wanted investment for was a side venture to his established activities and actually had nothing to it yet: it hadn't started doing anything so there was nothing to invest in other than an idea. He didn't get the investment.

Next up we had two entrepreneurs wanted £160,000 to invest in their "thermo-logistic" business. Unsuprisingly for refrigeration experts, they stayed cool under pressure and managed to negotiate a deal where they took the money in exchange for a 22.5% equity share. Seemed like a solid enough business, but the subject matter was hard to get too enthusiastic about, although the panel were certainly excited because at one point they had offers on the table from all five Dragons.

Dr Gili Kucci from Kucci Kukui wanted money to help expand her City-based relaxation treatment business. The Dragons' had difficulty believing the figures they were being given and she didn't get the investment, although Duncan Bannantyne rode to her rescue and tried to interpret her answers into something more coherent.

Levi Roots was a charismatic entrant into the Dragons' Den, beguiling the Dragons with a catchy ditty about his Reggae Reggae Sauce - "so good I named it twice". Despite making a huge error in his understanding of an apparent order (mistaking 2500 litres for 2,500,000 litres), he managed to score an investment of £50,000 from Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh. I think they clearly took a shine to him and that got him the deal, because I can imagine many other people making that kind of mistake would have had some harsh words coming their way. There was nothing on the Reggae Reggae Sauce to indicate any breakthroughs in the sauce's fortune, and I've not seen it in Sainsburys, so I'd love to know if this deal actually happened.

Labels: dragons' den, review, tv