Episode 5 Dragons' Den

These are the Dragons -

wealthy, well-connected, innovative and influential.

Each week, they make or break the dreams of dozens of budding entrepreneurs.

I think it's completely unviable, unworkable, uninvestable.

£2 million valuation is bordering on the delusional.

The core of this business is YOU and I am struggling with it.

I'm trying to understand whether you've come for an investment,

or whether you've come to sell your business.

You know what, when I ask you what your turnover is going to be,

it's a lot better if you tell me what your turnover is going to be.

Leisure and marketing expert Deborah Meaden,

telecoms giant Peter Jones

and hotel and health club owner Duncan Bannatyne

have between them struck deals worth more than £7 million in the Den.

But ready to fight for the next shrewd investment is the

creator of her own world-renowned interior design brand, Kelly Hoppen

and Cloud computing pioneer Piers Linney.

The multimillionaires will give each entrepreneur just three

minutes to pitch their idea and then interrogate them

on every aspect of their business. To face them takes nerve and vision.

So who will leave with the Dragons' money?

Welcome to Dragons' Den.

Once again, the doors are open to nervous entrepreneurs waiting

to pitch their ideas to five formidable business brains.

Each entrepreneur's convinced they're worthy of investment but

it's the Dragons' own money on offer so they only select the very best.

The rest leave with nothing.

First into the Den is Yorkshireman Alastair Hanson with his take

on a product that's been making music for hundreds of years.

So we'll see if he is pitch perfect

under the scrutiny of the Dragons.

SAXOPHONE PLAYS "I GOT YOU" BY JAMES BROWN

Thank you, Kenji.

My name is Alastair Hanson.

I'm a musical instrument maker and designer.

I'm here to ask for £50,000 investment for 20% share

in a new company, a new product called Easy-reed.

Kenji just made the saxophone sound fantastic,

and that's great, but it would have been nothing without one of these.

This is what made the noise, this is what made the notes. This is a reed.

It's quite tricky to fit the reed to the mouthpiece

and correctly align it up and down, side to side.

Especially for a youngster or an older player who are just beginning,

this is a real problem.

Let's imagine you are teaching a class of children to play

the clarinet. 30 children in a class.

The children are seven years old and you have to get them to fit the reeds, first of all.

It's easy to waste at least a third of every lesson just fitting

the reeds. With our product, we solve the problem.

So to fit Easy-reed, there's the mouthpiece, there's the reed,

and it just fits. Anybody can fit an Easy-reed. It's fitted in seconds.

You can fit it in the dark. A small child can fit it.

It saves lots of time and the reed isn't damaged.

And I wonder if anybody would like to try playing or try fitting a reed.

Would you like to try? Yes.

Would you like to try fitting a reed, or try playing? Super. Wow!

Go for it, Deborah.

Here's the mouthpiece. Yeah. And there's a reed. Yeah.

Oh, just literally, that's it? Hold on, no, there's two holes.

I get it, I get it, I get it. Yeah. OK.

I haven't got my glasses on, so that's not helping. There we are.

So literally it's those little holes which are guiding me into the... That's exactly it.

That's the key, isn't it? Because normally, reeds are just flat reeds. That's exactly right. OK, got it.

So how often do I have to fit a reed?

Every time you're going to play, you'll be fitting a reed.

You all don't know if I'm a secret saxophone player and I'm going to come out with, really,

a bit of Grover Washington Junior, which is going to ooze out of the end of that sax,

or whether I'm rubbish. I know you can do it, Deborah. Do you? Which one do you think?

I think you're good. I think you're useless.

So if I just stand around this side, so that we can all see Deborah play

and if you just hold this about there.

Just put that bottom lid over your teeth.

SHE PLAYS TUNEFULLY

Yay! Well done. Thank you.

A finely tuned pitch from Huddersfield music man Alastair Hanson.

He's come up with a way to save time in music lessons by inventing

an easy-fitting reed for instruments.

On offer is 20% of his company in exchange for £50,000.

Peter Jones wants to hear more.

Can you play that, what that sounds like? Yeah.

HE PLAYS TUNEFULLY

What does that sound like?

HE PLAYS 'PINK PANTHER' THEME

Beautiful. Not as good as mine. Wow!

You need to click us out of this, Alastair, because we're not doing those instruments, are we?

We're just talking about instruments now, we're not talking about the reeds.

So, Alastair, how many of these instrument manufacturers are there? Four or five.

OK, so your plan relies on convincing manufacturers to

change their mouthpiece.

That's one route to market which I'd like to explore.

So it's a Gillette model. So this is your razor, this is your blade.

Yes. So you have to sell a huge amount of these.

Once you've done that, you've got a recurring revenue model. Yes.

So the question really is, what about these, to be quite frank.

How do you get these onto all those instruments,

and your idea was give them away. Yes.

One box of reeds is more than paid for.

The cost price on that is £2.

And if you did that, you'd have a company turning over...?

In the first year, we projected a modest turnover of £120,000,

a profit of £2,000.

By year five we were projecting £700,000. We're still keeping

that quite modest, in my opinion, and a profit of £285,000.

Alastair's business model rests on him persuading the musical

instrument manufacturers to adopt his Easy-reed system.

Peter Jones is keen to discover

if Alastair has the credentials in the industry to pull this off.

What do you do today? I manufacture clarinets and saxophones.

And how big is that company? It's a very small company.

What did it turn over last year?

Last year, we turned over just short of £500,000.

And what sort of profit did you make?

We made a finished profit of only £40,000.

Why would you not pitch your existing business to

incorporate this, rather than set up a new business?

Our business has diminished a lot.

I don't think that this business is a good investment.

If I was in a position to be putting risk capital in,

I wouldn't want to be putting it into this business.

It's a very small and contracting market and this is a new

concept that I think you could get into, make some money

and then sell and get out of.

High-risk tactics in the Den as Alastair tries to steer

the Dragons away from investing in his musical instrument business.

Now, Duncan Bannatyne wants to know

whether there could be a better alternative to Easy-reed.

Alastair, if people really wanted to have a reed that didn't

slip about, there's probably other ways they could do it.

Isn't there?

Such as? A lip at the end, so it can't go past the lip?

You could put a lip at the end of the instrument, of the mouthpiece

and reed, but then it wouldn't fit onto the instrument.

What if you put two rails and an end piece so it just

slotted in in a rectangular shape and just had to fit in?

You'd have to make a specific mouthpiece that was very different and no ligature, no clip,

to fit over the top of it.

You could easily have a little plastic pocket.

If I could show you another manufacturer's mouthpiece...

Please don't. This is madness.

Who is going to spend their life reinventing the blinking reed?

Well, I might. It's been the same reed for how many, how many, how many years?

It's been the same reed for certainly 130, 140 years.

It's the reed. It's the point of... Yes, but it's doesn't matter.

It's the point of the reed... But if you use a shoe, you don't need to...

No, Deborah, as it happens, Alastair has reinvented the reed.

In how many years? Wait a minute.

Alastair has reinvented the reed and I've showed him a way to do this WITHOUT reinventing the reed.

Ten minutes ago we didn't care whether reeds could be fitted

or changed or anything and suddenly we're all redesigning them.

Sidetracked again,

this time by an attempt to reinvent Alastair's Easy-reed system.

Alastair, if you change this to get these out in the market

so that people have to buy your reed, what's to stop any reed

manufacturer making two small holes in his reed?

We have a patent pending on the application of two small

holes on the reed. I'd like to see that. Yeah.

There's the drawings and description. Thank you.

Shall I tell you what I really like about you?

You know exactly where you are and I think you are bang on with your

existing business and you've come up with something very inventive. Um...

I fitted reeds on my saxophone and I've only played it, you know...

it's sitting there staring at me every day and reminding me, "You haven't played me for ten years."

But it's not that hard.

It didn't stop me playing the saxophone. It's just, you know...

And actually, the longer you play, the easier it gets.

So I think you've invented a solution to a problem that

I'm afraid I don't think is big enough. So I won't be investing you, Alastair, so I'm afraid I'm out.

It's a blow for Alastair as his first Dragon bows out of the deal.

Has the patent application convinced Duncan Bannatyne, where the

entrepreneur himself could not?

Honestly, I've never seen a patent like it.

I mean, it's so much gobbledygook. I don't think you'll get the patent.

And even if it does, there's ways around a patent because you could

have different methods of stopping the reed from moving.

I do believe this product is protected.

And I do believe that the product is a good design

and if it was to be rejigged, it would be more extensive.

I hope one of my fellow Dragons agrees with you and they can look at the patent if they want.

I hope that they invest in you because you're a nice guy,

but I think it's completely unviable, unworkable,

uninvestable, and I'm out. Thank you very much for your time anyway.

Alastair, although I love this business, it's a shame

this business isn't going to make it, as you say.

It's virtually extinct.

That's a shame, but I'm not investing in that one,

so the one we are supposed to be investing in, I'm afraid I'm out.

OK.

Alastair, I think it's very clever what you've done, because you've

created something that is used, but a much easier way to do it.

It's not something that I'd want to invest in

but I want to wish you well, but I'm out. Thank you very much indeed.

Four Dragons have turned down the deal and only Peter Jones remains.

Can he see a potential to make a profit from Alastair's product?

I think you could have something.

And I'm really... I've got two balls in the air. It's really strange.

One is saying out, one's saying in.

I think your quality, your products and what you've created is fantastic.

It's a shame that that business... That's why I was asking questions about it.

It's a shame it's a diminishing business,

but thank you for your honesty, but I'm not going to

invest on the basis of the fact that I do think that it's something that

I know not a lot about and it's a very small return on an investment. All right.

So I'm going to pass on the opportunity and say I'm out, but good luck to you.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you for your time.

Honesty pays in the Den,

but it doesn't always guarantee an investment.

Alastair may have entertained the Dragons, but he leaves with nothing.

I loved his integrity as a pitcher. So did I.

When Deborah got up to play the saxophone, that was great.

There are not many people who have been in the Den who have put

an instrument in Deborah's mouth and then played the Pink Panther.

Hah!

SHE IMITATES A PHONE RINGING

Hello. Busy Bits. Can I help you?

Alastair wasn't the first entrepreneur to enter

the Den feeling the best way to sell a product is to perform with it.

You reminded me, finally sat down there, of Mr Tumble.

It was definitely a Mr Tumble sketch, that.

Putting on a show doesn't guarantee investment.

But it has been known to pave the way to some big cash rewards.

Yeee-haaa!

Our next wannabe to tread the boards of the Den was passionate Scot

Alistair Taylor.

Sugar.

What you've just witnessed was an accident that happened to me

two years ago.

Alistair had stars in his eyes for £110,000 of the Dragons' cash

for his useful invention which attaches tools to ladders.

Ladderlimb is a simple device that will fit any ladder with a hole.

You sit the clicker in the bucket. Push in. Secure.

Now, entrepreneurs take note.

Performing to five Dragons can be a nerve-racking business

and interior design expert Kelly Hoppen was the first with

a poor review of Alastair's theatrics.

If I'm painting, I'll probably do it out of a paint pot,

but most professional decorators and painters actually mix

and pour the paint into a flat tray.

One painter, a retired painter, said to me he wouldn't buy one.

That was the first, I thought, negative reaction.

And he said, "No, I would buy two." The ladder provided

the perfect prop for some audience participation, but when the scene

changed to focus on the numbers, Alastair began to fluff his lines.

Just go through exactly what you've sold in terms of revenue.

Right, we've sold in the region of 5,000 in the last six months.

What's that in revenue, numbers? Revenue?

Origin...we're selling online... Revenue.

Well, my figure one could not be here for different reasons,

and I will apologise for it.

Nothing irritates the Dragons more than

a lack of clarity on those classic Den figures.

Do you know what, when I ask you what your turnover is going to be,

it's a lot better if you tell me what your turnover is going to be.

Sorry, I should've said, but the figures we've come up with...

This is only half of the turnover? This is only half the turnover.

Tell you what, let me ask you a question. What's your turnover going to be?

Peter Jones was baffled by the news that Alastair had already turned

down a more lucrative offer than the one he was asking for in the Den.

I could walk out of here and get £150,000 for 10% of the company but I want Dragon power.

I think you need more than just Dragon power. Right.

I think you need Lady Luck on your side as well.

In the end, it was girl power that brought

the curtain down on Alastair's pitch at the hands of Kelly Hoppen.

Your figures are all over the place and it's not something that

I would invest in, so I'm afraid that I'm out. Right. Thank you.

Some great businesses in Britain have

had their gestation in one of our universities.

Where better to develop and refine an idea?

Well, next out of the lift is Cheshire-based Tim Morgan,

whose invention started out as a final year project at uni.

Hello, Dragons. My name is Tim Morgan

and I'm managing director of the Mountain Trike Company.

I'm here today to pitch for £100,000 in return for a 5% share in the business.

Our product is the revolutionary Mountain Trike,

all-terrain wheelchair.

It uniquely gives wheelchair users the freedom

and independence to access and enjoy the countryside.

The patented lever drive,

steering and suspension systems enable the user to ride over

a wide variety of terrain, such as deep mud, snow, sandy beaches,

in comfort and safety and the whole time with clean hands.

It's this versatility that has really appealed to our target market,

as in the same chair, they can go for a country ride

and pop into a pub for lunch, or go for a family cycle ride, or if they're

feeling even more adventurous, go and summit Mount Snowdon or Ben Nevis.

No other manual wheelchair on the market offers this level

of off-road performance, combined with practicality and comfort.

The Mountain Trike has been very well received by our target market

since we started trading in August 2011

and we've generated a turnover of £360,000 and are now at break even.

In addition to a wide variety of individual customers worldwide,

we have also sold direct to the British Army, who have a

fleet of five trikes at their main rehab unit, Headley Court,

where the injured soldiers use them to aid in their recovery.

I feel this is an attractive proposition for an investor as there

is the opportunity to double your money in the next two to three years.

I also feel there are considerable social and ethical benefits to being

involved with this UK-made product that is having a fantastic

difference to the lives of wheelchair users worldwide.

And if you'd like to speak to one of our very first customers,

we have someone here today who can give you his first-hand

experience of how the trike has benefited his life.

A robust pitch from Crewe-based Tim Morgan.

His mountain-bike-wheelchair hybrid needs a sizeable £100,000

cash injection in return for just a 5% stake.

Peter Jones wants to put the wheels of interrogation into motion.

I will come back to something in a minute,

and it's the £2 million valuation.

But before I do, can we see your advocate in action? OK, sure.

Good afternoon, Dragons. Hi, there. What's your name?

My name is Richard. Richard, hi.

Could you give us a quick demonstration? Yes.

Have you got any rough terrain I could go over?

How fast can it go, Richard? Is this about the speed?

About four to five miles an hour.

Wow.

Do you feel safer in it than a normal wheelchair? Is that one of the...

Yes. I haven't fallen out of this one yet.

I've fallen out of my regular wheelchair several times.

There isn't anything that I don't like about it.

I mean, it helps me to live my life in the way that I want to live it.

Richard, thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you, Richard.

Richard's seal of approval has made a good first

impression on the Dragons but Peter Jones wants to get

back to the thorny issue of how much Tim thinks his company is worth.

What is in your mind about valuing this at this stage,

your business at £2 million?

First of all, I'm kind of recognising that we are no longer a start-up,

we're an early-stage company. We've been trading for a year and a half.

We're also just breaking even now and starting to enter into profitability.

So we've just got American approval, so this is it.

A very large market for us.

We feel that the overall addressable market is around half a million,

so the actual unit figures we've sold so far

and that we've projected in our plans are

a very modest percentage of that.

For this year, we've projected 70 units and a turnover of £282,000.

For next year, we're forecasting a turnover of £406,000 and 100 units.

And how much to make on each unit?

At present, the manufacturer cost is £2,500, and retail is £3995.

Tim's impressive sales projections have revealed a potential

moneymaking opportunity

but Duncan Bannatyne suspects he's priced himself out of the market.

I was pushing a wheelchair last weekend. OK.

And it's got two wheels, a bit of cloth between them.

I don't believe for one minute it costs that sort of money.

OK, a very basic wheelchair would be a couple of hundred pounds

but that would last not very long.

You couldn't really go out and about very far in it.

What I'm trying to do is to see what you're comparing your pricing with.

So what's the next one above that? So really, then you're probably...

There is a more entry-level type things

which are sort of reasonably lightweight

but if someone is paralysed from the waist down, for example,

they will need something like that for that

kind of getting about the house, to going around the office.

It's small, it's lightweight, but it's limited to smooth ground.

This really is offering a whole different range of capabilities.

How big is this market, do you think?

In the UK, there are 1.4 million wheelchair users.

What is their buying pattern, a wheelchair user?

Traditionally, they may buy from a local dealer or what we're seeing

increasingly now is that with the increase in web sales

and things like that, people are wanting to source more directly.

It sounds... To be honest, if I was buying a bike, if I was buying, certainly,

if I was buying a wheelchair, I would want to sit in it.

Is that not an issue when you're trying to sell online?

Basically, we still have a lot of first-hand contact with

the customer, so we go out on personal home demos,

we have a hiring scheme where people can hire for a week or a weekend,

try it at home for longer period, and a lot of the time that's

a nice sort of try-before-you-buy method as well.

Right.

The entrepreneur seems to have thought of everything.

Piers Linney wants to know

whether that includes protecting the design of his product.

It seems to me that somebody else, not easily, but COULD come up

with a wheelchair with levers and brakes and steering that's probably

as effective as yours but maybe not designed in quite the same way.

The patents I wrote were very broad for a start,

so they covered lots of different options, so someone couldn't,

for example, just put the steering wheel at the front and get around it.

So nobody else can copy that in any way? No.

I should point out, they are UK patents. Right.

So I filed them when I was still a student.

At that stage I was only able to afford the UK patent coverage

and since then, it's been through the various stages

so we couldn't extend it to be international. It's just a shame,

but it's a case in point of how not to protect intellectual property.

Criticism of Tim's patent.

Could the wheels be starting to come off his otherwise perfect pitch?

Kelly Hoppen wants to drill down into the structure of Tim's business.

When you say "we" all the time, how many people is in the company?

Myself, I have a 47% share in the business.

I have two good friends from university who

helped in the development and commercialisation.

They have 10% and 3% respectively.

And then the two other people who kind of help me get to market

and get to where we are now are our manufacturing director,

and he has 20%, and also our chairman, who also has 20%.

Kelly Hoppen has unearthed some crucial

information about the complicated share structure of Tim's company.

Deborah Meaden wants to know how the revelation affects a potential deal.

Have you come in here today with the other directors agreeing to

any form of dilution? Yes.

We've agreed the 5% share is the most that we can offer between us

and we've also agreed how that would break down.

Myself I would lose 3%, and...

So there would be no point in me making you any offer above 5%? I'm afraid not, no.

Really, for the stage we are at and the amount we've all

put into it already, we can't go any higher than that.

Well, I'm going to.

OK.

And the reason I'm going to make you an offer, I...

I want to force that out and for you to think that through.

Or are you saying that they haven't given you the... Are you telling me that they

haven't given you any rights to go above 5%?

It's between all of us.

We've agreed that that's the most we can offer today. Gosh!

I wish I'd known that at the beginning.

Because I think YOU'RE great, I think IT'S great,

and I think the valuation is crazy.

And if you're honestly saying that 5% is it,

I just could not reach that valuation. And is that right?

So if I offered you now all of the money for 15%

of the business, take it?

I'm really sorry, but I'd have to say no to that.

I am SO sorry about that, because I would have loved to get on board

with this, but I've got to tell you, at 5%, I can't do it.

So I'm sorry, I'm out.

The last-minute disclosure of his company shareholder breakdown

has lost him his first Dragon. Which way will the others go?

I feel stupid not asking the question earlier.

£2 million valuation is bordering on the delusional.

So, Tim, you've made it uninvestable

because you're unwilling to move on the percentage,

unfortunately, so I'm going to have to say that I'm out. OK. Thanks, Peter.

Tim, there's not an awful lot I can add to that other than

I do think you're incredibly inspiring

and I think it's an incredible product, but I want to wish you

luck and I'm sure you'll do really well with it, but I'm afraid I'm out.

OK. Thank you.

I think what you've done is fantastic, but I'm sorry,

Timothy, I'm out.

OK. Thanks, Duncan.

Four Dragons bow out of the deal. Only Piers Linney remains.

If I was going to make you an offer, I thought when you were talking

about "we've all agreed about a percentage", that was a negotiation.

But given Deborah's made you a reasonable offer

and you've rejected it, I wouldn't be able to make an offer any

better than that, so I think you're fantastic, love the product,

amazing what you've done on your own, literally,

but I'm afraid your valuation's killed it, so I'm out.

OK. Thanks. What we should've said, really, with that evaluation,

was "on your bike", but we didn't. On your trike! On your trike! OK.

A frustrating conclusion to a pitch that had such promise.

In the end, it was Tim's inability to negotiate that

dashed his investment dreams and he leaves the Den with nothing.

That's it. How disappointing. £2 million for that. Wow.

But good guy, good product. Good luck to him.

So far tonight, no-one has persuaded the Dragons to invest.

This is madness. Who is going to spend their life reinventing the blinking reed?

Will any of these brave business hopefuls secure the cash they

so desperately need?

So when you get a wave of offers in a minute,

what is it you're really looking for? I want to create a superbrand.

I think we've sold on average five a day. Yeah.

That's not what I would call hot cakes.

Next into the Den is Wendy Newby, a postmistress from Hull.

She's devised a new twist for some existing products

aimed at the motorist.

Can she convince the Dragons that she will

find a niche within a highly competitive market with her

range of car accessories?

Hi, everyone.

I'm Wendy and I'm here today to ask for £50,000

in return for 20% of my business, She-icer and the supporting She range.

Around seven years ago, I went for a meal with some girls.

It was the middle of winter and when we left the restaurant, the locks on my car doors had frozen.

It's quite frightening when you're a woman and you're out in the dark and you can't get into your car and it

was also very annoying because I had bought de-icer.

It was just too big and too bulky to carry around with me

and I remember thinking, "I wish that would fit in a handbag,"

pointing at it through the car windscreen.

I tried to buy a de-icer that was easier to carry around,

a more portable version, but I couldn't find anything

and in the process, I was stunned to discover the huge void in the

marketplace for auto-care products designed specifically for females.

Each winter that followed, I encountered similar

problems in the ice but even though I had the idea, getting my boys

through university and college was more important at the time.

However, I saved up and when they left home,

I approached a chemical company.

Over the next eight months, I studied in my lunch hours and evenings

and in January 2012, She-icer arrived.

I have masked that awful chemical de-icer smell with a pleasant cherry

scent and I've coloured it pink to make it appealing to the female eye.

I had 500 manufactured, and it's only retailed in small local outlets, yet 400 have sold already.

I work full-time, and my days are just too busy

to be battling with frozen locks on garden gates,

trying to get the garage undone and heavy breathing on car doors —

and, trust me, that is so unattractive if it gets on YouTube!

I've come here today, not just to ask for your investment,

but to seek your help and expertise to help me market She-icer

and the She range successfully.

Thank you for listening. Does anybody have any questions?

A confident and warm-hearted pitch from Wendy Newby.

She's looking for £50,000 in exchange for a 20% share

in her range of pink products.

Peter Jones is first to break the ice.

Wendy. Yes. Hi.

Erm... I think you're trying to solve an issue that,

frankly, doesn't exist.

I personally just took a thought that how I have so many times

left my de-icer in the car

and the car's locked in the garage

and then I walk out and I find the lock is frozen

and I find the garage frozen

and exactly that night when I went for the meal

and I came out and saw the de-icer in the car.

That happens so many times.

When you see people battling to get into their cars.

And so it is just a more portable version, really. And also...

But how many cars do you know today...

You know, my mum and dad had a car with a key lock.

How many cars today, in reality, do you actually

put your key into the lock and turn it?

I appreciate that, but also, even on the windscreens and things like that.

I never have de-icer to hand.

Just get in the car, turn your car up and...

You know, it's quite nice to sit in the car when it's freezing cold

waiting for it to get warm.

I don't have time to do that because I need to be at work, so...

I just kept getting held up with this.

Not the best of starts for Wendy as Peter Jones finds fault

with the whole idea behind one of her products.

Will the entrepreneur find a warmer reception from Piers Linney?

Hi, I'm Piers. Hi, Piers.

So, are you saying that you'd go on a night out -

you've got your lipstick, your car keys and a handy...

I do take my de-icer now and all of my friends have the de-icer, yes.

So are you going to branch out into a pink portable car jack,

foot pump... No, I won't be doing that.

I've just gone for products that I feel are essential products

for car maintenance, and also I feel it is quite a man's world out there.

And I just felt there was a gap there for the female

that nothing is marketed for the female.

I mean the de-icer is already on the market.

Why is yours different? Is it purely the size?

The smell of it's lovely.

And I dislike the smell immensely of de-icer.

Do you really care how your de-icer smells?

That was just an added feature.

The portability was the main thing for me.

Still not a whiff of praise for Wendy's cherry-scented range.

Will Deborah Meaden and Kelly Hoppen see a market

for female-friendly car products?

It's an odd situation.

You have actually presented very well,

so please do not go home and kick yourself

and think, "I could have presented better."

Thank you. Don't like the product.

I just don't think there's a big enough market for it.

So, I'm afraid, that's it.

That says it all. So I don't want to waste your time. OK. Thank you.

I won't be investing, so I'm afraid I'm out. OK.

Most cars today you click and you get in,

and yes, you have to put the engine on for a while to make it heat up.

I have my de-icer in the car if I need it for the windscreen.

It's not a viable proposition to invest in, so I'm afraid I'm out.

A blow for Wendy as Deborah Meaden

and Kelly Hoppen declare themselves out of the deal in quick succession.

Now Piers Linney is ready to have his say.

I don't think there's a market for your product, unfortunately.

I think you've just reinvented something that already exists and coloured it pink, so...

Great pitch, but it's not something you can invest in, so I'm out. OK.

Thank you.

Wendy, I am going to be short, sharp and to the point.

I think that this is not a product that we actually need.

And if it is a product that we don't need,

it would be a waste of my money to invest.

So, Wendy, I'm really sorry, I'm going to say I'm out. OK, thank you.

So far, Wendy has failed to convince four Dragons

that her product can find a market.

Her last hope of securing the £50,000 investment that she needs

rests with Duncan Bannatyne.

Wendy, you know, you said it can be quite frightening

to be alone in the dark when you can't get your car open. Yes.

For a woman. Yes. If you're frozen out.

Well, it can be quite frightening for a man. It can, absolutely. I totally agree.

So I don't understand why you've sexualised this.

No, I just... This is about getting into your car and de-icing it.

Why should that be sexualised with, "Let's make a pink one for ladies."

No, I didn't mean to do it like that.

It was just for me to carry around in a bag.

What you've done is sexualised it by making it pink

and making it smell nice.

Well, an awful lo... Most of them on the market are blue.

If you're making it for women, half the population can't buy it cos they're men.

And that is completely and utterly pointless.

I didn't mean that comment for it to come out that way.

When you're selling something like these -

something that goes in a car, all different things for a car,

you don't ever say, "I'll sell this product to women, this to men.

"Men will buy the blue ones, women will buy the pink ones."

It's completely and utterly terrible.

Erm...so, Wendy, it's not for me, I'm out.

OK.

Thank you.

It's all over for Wendy,

as the Dragons failed to warm to her products.

She leaves the Den with nothing.

I'm just shocked by Duncan's comments, because, yes,

I felt there was a void in the marketplace for products,

and so I went out there and tried to fill that gap.

But, to be fair, that's the same as happens with aftershave,

and the same happens with perfume.

But none of it is sexist.

I don't have any idea where Duncan was coming from with those comments.

But if they'd been constructive, and if they'd been helpful,

then I would've taken those comments on board

and learnt from them.

Wendy is just one in a long line of entrepreneurs

who've entered the Den convinced their idea is going to be

the next big thing.

I don't think it's a good product. I don't think it will sell.

Anglo-American couple Robin and Kate Vincent

were seeking a £60,000 to launch their tablet computer handle business.

For two months, Robin and I rented a booth in a mall

and we sold our iPad handles to the customers there,

and they bought them like hot cakes.

Do you say "hot cakes" here? Yep.

Duncan Bannatyne had his suspicions about those impressive-sounding sales.

You sold 375 of these in the mall?

Yes, sir.

So, on average, how many is that per day?

I think we sold on average five a day. Yeah.

That's not what I would call "hot cakes".

The usefulness of the product caused some disagreement in the Den.

It's a great design, I have to say.

It really is. But, erm...

THE OTHERS LAUGH

It's functional, it works.

A great design?! Two slits in the back of a cover.

That's why it's a great design!

It's a tennis bat for a tablet.

Also a tennis bat...that ensures your tablet is not going to fall.

On offer was the Den's largest-ever equity stake of 90%,

which had Piers Linney intrigued about the couple's intentions.

So I'm trying to understand whether you've come for an investment,

or whether you have come to sell your business.

Which is not really what the Den's about. I think you're right.

Robin and I are really too...old to do this.

The couple certainly endeared themselves to the Dragons.

Did you appear on Little House on the Prairie?

Because that voice feels like it should be telling me "Goodnight".

But it was "Goodnight" for the likeable entrepreneurs,

as the Dragons failed to get a handle

on the potential of their product.

You are so delightful - it's a breath of fresh air -

but it's not an investable business.

So I'm afraid I'm out.

I wonder if our multimillionaires are into multivitamins.

We are about to find out.

Our next entrepreneur, Nikki Cooper, is hoping to supplement

her nutritional business with a hearty investment from a Dragon.

Wish Nikki well, as it is the last chance for an investment today.

Hi, my name is Nikki Cooper and my company is called Inner Me.

I'm looking for a £100,000 investment for a 20% equity stake.

Inner Me is a new supplements brand

aiming to transform the appeal of the vitamin market,

to health-conscious women in the UK.

My first products arrived in stock last May

and I approached retailers over the summer.

By the end of October we were stocked in Boots, Selfridge's,

Wholefoods and a number of other retailers,

and have recently been approached by Superdrug and...

North American distributors.

The vitamins and minerals market

is one that suffers from a lack of brand differentiation.

I believe I've proved that there is market opportunity for Inner Me

with our cute on-the-go packs,

quantity formulas and ingredients,

and we even tell you the day of the week.

We want to launch a wider range of products

and to educate the masses

on the benefits of taking supplements for health, beauty and vitality,

and to build brand recognition.

In short, I want to create a superbrand -

one that would rival a fashion house or cosmetics house,

in terms of branding,

where Inner Me is a name widely associated with health and beauty.

I'm very proud of what I've achieved so far on my own,

but with the right partner, there is so much more I can do.

Thank you for listening and I welcome your questions.

A wholesome pitch from Guildford-based Nikki Cooper,

who wants to transform the health supplements market

with her bespoke range of vitamin pills.

Her company needs a healthy investment of £100,000,

in return for a 20% stake.

Deborah Meaden is first to question the fresh-faced entrepreneur.

Thank you, Nikki.

So have you got any background in nutrition

or in supplements or anything that underpins... Yes, I do.

So, my background is I'm a lawyer,

but in 2009 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

So, I started looking at ways to optimise my health through exercise,

nutrition and supplements.

And when I started looking at supplements, I saw the benefits.

Obviously, it helped with my nerve pains,

but my hair was better, my skin was better, my digestion,

my energy levels increased...

And, for me, I just found that the market was very flat,

so I started speaking to nutritionists

and other manufacturers.

So, you're suffering from MS... Yes.

So you're achieving all of this with all of that going on in your life?

OK, whatever else happens in this pitch,

that's blinkin' marvellous!

So, how did you go from being a lawyer...

What kind of lawyer were you? Corporate finance.

And, like you, I went into banking.

I worked for a hedge fund first and that's when I got diagnosed

and that's when I started looking into the market.

But I didn't have time - I was working 14, 16 hours a day.

And in 2011 I went on maternity leave.

So, sorry, you've got a family as well? You're bringing up... Yes.

So I did it in my maternity leave.

Nikki's inspirational back-story has impressed the Dragons.

Now Peter Jones wants to know

whether the entrepreneur's product is as investable as she is.

Nikki, erm... Hi. Hi.

Give me a feeling of what the potential is. Realistic potential.

Realistic - so, I did a test advert in Zest

and our sales went up five times.

When I've been speaking with Boots about forecasts,

we all agreed I needed to get a mid-tier gondola

and get the brand recognised and out there.

And get the awareness there.

And we've forecasted for next year for a £400,000 turnover.

With the expansion of the range,

we'll be looking at 1.2 million turnover in three years.

And what's your plan?

So, you mention revenues in three years of 1.2 million,

which is fantastic - wouldn't take that away from you -

but it is not a massive number, is it?

No, actually I've been told that it will be a lot higher than that,

but I believe you've got to be conservative and manage expectations -

my own, as well as everybody else's.

So when you get a wave of offers coming in,

what is it you're really looking for? I'm looking for a mentor.

Obviously, I need the money.

But, for me, I want somebody who can help me get to where I want to be.

I need that advice.

Very impressed. Thank you.

Nikki's ambitious vision is ticking all the right boxes

with the Dragons.

But design expert Kelly Hoppen has been casting her professional eye

over the product itself.

Hi, Nikki. I'm Kelly. Hi, Kelly.

This is great. I mean, I'm very into nutrition and health.

Can I just say, I do love the packaging,

but I think it's slightly weak on the shelf. Yes.

I can barely see it from here.

And when you're busy and you're going into a store

and you want to buy something, you are drawn to colour.

And, believe me, I'm not a colour person - I love neutrals - but...

I love it when it's close up

and I think it's really clever and sweet,

but I'm not sure it's what's going to pull people.

But, I mean, how...

Are you set in stone as to what you...

No, we'll do whatever works.

So I'd always welcome, you know, any tips or opinions

on how we can get the brand.

Because it is a vitamin.

And I think this looks to me like I'm going to buy some false eyelashes.

OK.

My biggest fear is that you're not a qualified nutritionist.

And I know... But I know the market out there,

and people follow the brands,

people that have written the books...

We'll have a qualified nutritionist on the website.

We're going to do monthly blogs.

That helps. But the core of this business is YOU.

But I am struggling with it. OK.

Kelly Hoppen's questioning of the brand's credibility

has raised some doubts about the product's potential.

But what of the market opportunity?

Deborah Meaden wanted to know more about those big-name stockists.

So, you delivered some very interesting news,

which is you're in Boots, Selfridge's, erm...

just signed up Superdrug.

Erm, Boots is our biggest retailer.

We're currently in 130 stores.

And what shelf space? What's your merchandising actually in-store?

Yeah, in-store, we literally... We don't have our own shelves.

We just have the three products sat like that.

So we could improve on that, hugely.

And where are they sitting? Are they amongst supplements?

They're all sitting at the moment in the Beauty section.

So, once we build the range, we'll have a product in each section.

So as you walk to the vitamins area, you will see us better.

At the moment, if you're going to buy beauty products you will see us,

if you're going to buy a heart product, you're not going to see us.

I think you might well end up

sitting in the beauty end... OK. ..of the market.

That looks like a beauty product.

Kelly's absolutely right - it looks like mascara.

You haven't moved it to the main area.

And if you move it to the main area,

I think you kind of lose a bit of your raison d'etre.

As an investor, I don't think the market's the size you think it is.

OK. And that' the only reason I won't be investing.

And it's a huge shame. For me, not for you,

because I think you will go on and make a success.

But I wish you all the best of luck. Huge respect to you.

Thank you very much. I'm out.

Despite liking the charismatic entrepreneur,

a reluctant Deborah Meaden decides not to invest.

Which way will Peter Jones go?

I think that you'll start to hit challenges

as you start to build scale.

And I believe also, then, as a result,

I think your margin will drop substantially, very quickly,

to compensate for the marketing activity that you need.

So I actually think that what you'll end up with

is having to spend basically all of your margin in-store

to keep the movement going.

And that's the risk.

If you win that game, it's going to be successful,

and you are going to be a very wealthy young lady.

If you don't, you'll lose all the money that's been invested.

And that's the reason why, sadly, I'm not going to invest,

and say I'm out. OK. Thank you.

But I wish you all the luck in the world. Thank you very much.

I'm really worried, Nikki. Can I tell you why I am worried? Why?

Because Duncan Bannatyne hasn't spoken yet.

I know!

Is he awake? THEY CHUCKLE

Have you got any supplements for him?

Yeah, I've got some Energize Me that might make you perky.

Nikki, I don't know what to say,

except what you've done's absolutely fantastic, it's excellent.

But I don't like this industry.

I mean, I try to get into nutrition and pills...

I just find it so complicated.

Erm... Kelly now tells me what to eat and what to drink, so I'm OK.

Erm...

I just... I really don't see how I could add anything to your business.

OK, thank you.

So I'm going to say, I wish you the best of luck, but I'm out.

Thank you.

After an almost perfect pitch,

three Dragons have declared themselves out.

Will health and fitness fanatic Kelly Hoppen

see more potential in Nikki's product?

Nikki, I... I'm really, really torn.

I love you, and I do love the idea of the product.

Sadly, I'm not going to invest.

And I'm not going to invest, not because of you

and what you have achieved... I will buy your product.

But it's not something that I feel comfortable with investing in.

The main issue for me is the credibility of the brand,

and that's not about you personally,

it's just in terms of nutrition and where it's going today.

And that's what's holding me back.

But I wish you all the best.

I also think you're going to do phenomenally well.

And, as I said, I'll support you and buy some of the vitamins,

but I'm afraid I'm out. OK.

Kelly Hoppen's exit from the deal leaves only one Dragon left.

Has Piers Linney retained any of his initial enthusiasm?

You had me at that...

To be quite frank.

I'm not convinced, when you were in your office -

if you have an office, probably at home... No, at home.

..thinking about your mentor, you imagined me.

So that's... Yes! I did!

I think we would get on very well.

I'm not convinced. THEY ALL LAUGH

So, it's so hard, this one, because you've done such an amazing job.

And I think you will do well.

I just don't think I'm the person for you.

I'm afraid I'm also out. Right. Well, thank you very much.

And thank you all for your time.

Well done. Well done.

Fantastic!

Thank you!

Nikki may have won the Dragons' hearts,

but she couldn't quite get their cash.

Despite a flying start, she leaves the Den empty-handed.

It's a positive experience in that they think

I've got a very good business.

And I know I've got a good business.

They gave me some very good points and advice on what I need to do

to make that business go from here to here

and so now I'm going to go away and make it happen.

It's been another unpredictable day in the Den.

At times it seemed like the Dragons were poised to part with their cash,

but in the end they failed to make a single investment.

It's disappointing for the likeable entrepreneurs

who dared to pitch,

but heads always rule hearts in the Den.

You can join in the conversation about any of tonight's pitches

on Twitter.

Next week in the Den...

I think it's probably one of the saddest sights I've ever seen.

We're selling three dolls a week.

Three dolls a week? Three dolls a week?!

You are the Dragon that I wished because of your expertise in the law.

Don't tell me somebody is suing you.

It's completely and absolutely bonkers.

I don't know why you spend so much time on it.

I think I'd rather do community service than invest in this.

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