It’s the final week in the Den and the series has flown by. Its been a strong series with a lot of deals done in the den. Hopefully a good final episode tonight.
Michael Lea – Earle’s
http://www.earles-direct.co.uk
http://www.earles-sandwiches.co.uk
Michael was seeking £100,000 for 15% in his mobile hot and cold food van company. Earles was formed 12 years ago and delivers pies, sandwiches, drinks etc to businesses. Michael gave a overview of the company history but was light on what the money was for.
He wanted to franchise his sandwich company, specifically with his new van design which combines hot and cold food storage and an ice cream machine.
Michael had separated his original business from the Franchise operation that he was asking for investment on. Michael revealed that he had put approximately £160,000 to date, is surprised me that he was only offering 15% when he has not put in much more.
James Caan was worried about the principles behind the business as he had been in a similar business and lost a lot of money. James was out. Deborah Meaden shortly declared herself out too.
Theo Paphitis was out too, he was critical of there being no unique selling point to make his company different from anyone’s else.
Duncan Bannatyne who had previously run his own ice cream van business, felt ice cream vans were better and was out.
Peter Jones asked for the current business to be included aswell as the franchise, and offered £100,000 for 35% of the entire business. Michael went to the back of the room for a think and although he didn’t seem convinced accepted the deal.
Peter said this taught the other dragons a lesson – the benefit of declaring last!
Vernon Kerswell – Extreme Fliers
http://www.extremefliers.co.uk
Vernon was seeking £75,000 for 15% in the world’s first remote controlled micro-helicopter and car in one. Vernon has already manufactured several products and gave a strong knowledgeable pitch. He was very honest that he was looking for a dragon to get the product into toy retailers.
He answered questions well from the Dragons and showed that he was enthusiastic and put a lot of effort into the range.
Theo Paphitis wanted a play with the Terror wasp. Deborah tested the business skills of Vernon questioning the patents and product protection.
Peter Jones revealed he owned 25% of Blaze toys which is one of the biggest radio controlled helicopter in the UK. He spent over £100,000 in legal costs to fight a legal patent for the rotor design of remote control helicopters, and eventually settled. For this reason he was out.
James Caan was interested but after Peter Jones revelation he was out.
Duncan Bannatyne loved Vernon but he felt there were too many competitors.
Deborah felt Vernon was highly investable but had heard too much from Peter Jones and was out.
Theo Paphitis started questioning Vernon’s academics, and was considering an investment in him. He felt this wasn’t the right time, and Vernon should finish his degree, while developing his products, and then launch the business and at this point Theo would be ready to invest.
Susan Bell and Jonathan Jones – Butterfly Technology
http://www.butterfly-technology.com
Susan and Jonathan wanted £75,000 for 15% in their company which created an invention that dispenses all product from a tube without any wastage “Squeeze with ease”. They gave a good presentation explaining the key design and points of their product. I felt their equity offer was incredibly low when they are still at the prototype stage.
Peter Jones felt that this would have a slow take up as manufactures wouldn’t want to reduce their sales by users getting more out for their tubes. Duncan thought the best money saving way would be to use a key to wind the tube and force the contents out.
If this product works to their expectations they have incredibly high profit expectations. Deborah Meaden was familiar with Susan’s from very positive previous press she had received. However Deborah felt that this was not an environmental / ethical product that she claimed it to be so she was out.
James Caan agreed that she had so much publicity in the past that if this were a good idea she would have already have been offered investment, so he and Theo were out.
Duncan Bannatyne didn’t believe in the product and was out.
Peter Jones felt Susan was talented but didn’t listen and the product shouldn’t be on the market so he was out.
David and Patti Bailey – Motormouse
David and Patti were looking for a £100,000 investment in their company for a 20% stake. They have created Wireless computer mice in the form of supercars.
Originally I was unimpressed but they couple had strong sales to date and they were quality “executive toys” rather than very plasticy cheap cars. They also revealed they have a licencing agreement with a Italian sportscar manufacturer.
Peter Jones started questioning and Patti answered strongly showing that they were aware of similar toy’s but there’s was an executive gadget not a toy.
James dug a little deeper and discovered that the “missing link” was the retail market and they needed help breaking into it.
Theo loved the quality of the product and the packaging but felt the competition was very high and this was a price sensitive market so he was out.
Duncan Bannatyne felt the market wasn’t big enough so he was out. Deborah was out for the same reasons.
Peter Jones felt he would have invested less but £100,000 was too much for the market they were looking to enter. This left just James Caan.
James again liked the product but didn’t feel it was big enough. He did like the creators and their expertise and wondered if they would help with his other companies as an investment in David and Patti, for 50%. The couple were flattered, but didn’t want to do a flat 50/50 split. James Caan offered 49% but they challenged for 60/40. He pushed back for 45% but David and Patti beat him down to 40%!
Conclusion
The Den has closed for the last time this season. I had mixed feelings on today’s episode,the people were very interesting and lead to a good episode but I wasn’t so impressed with the products. I liked Earle’s Sandwich company as this gave us some insight into some of the dragon’s past. Vernon was a great inspiration of how much a young entrepreneur can achieve but I felt the product was to similar to other things on the market. The tube device was quite odd and the computer mouse while well made is ultimately quite faddy.
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