Deborah Meaden
Encyclopedia
Deborah Meaden is a British
business woman who ran a multi-million pound family holiday business, before completing a management buyout
. She is best known for her appearances on the BBC Two
programme Dragons' Den
, where she has agreed investments in the Den of £1,605,000 in 26 businesses over the 6 series in which she has taken part to date.
. Her parents divorced when she was young and her mother moved Deborah and her elder sister Gail to Brightlingsea
in Essex
. After her mother remarried, she had two more daughters (Cass and Emma) with Brian, the man Meaden calls Dad. Meaden went to the Godolphin School
, Salisbury
, for a brief period and then to Trowbridge High School.
, after which she worked as a sales-room model in a fashion house. After graduation, she moved to Italy
at 19 and set up a glass and ceramics export agency, which sold products to high-end retailers including Harvey Nichols
. The company failed after just 18 months.
Meaden and a partner bought one of the first Stefanel textile franchises
in the UK, which was based in the West Country
; she sold out two years later to her partner for £10,000. She then had several successful leisure and retail businesses including a spell operating a prize bingo
at Butlins
in Minehead
.
In 1988 she joined her family's business to run its amusement arcade
operations and in 1992 joined Weststar Holidays, a family holiday park operator based in Exeter
, Devon
but with its major sites based in South West England
. In 1999 she led a management buyout and acquired the majority shareholding. By the time she sold the company 6 years later the Weststar was providing holidays for more than 150,000 people each year with an EBITDA in excess of £11m. In 2005 she made a partial exit when Weststar was sold in a deal worth £33 million to Phoenix Equity Partners
, and in August 2007 her remaining stake in Weststar Holidays was liquidated when the firm was sold to Alchemy Partners
for £83m, valuing her stake at about £19m.
In 2009, Meaden acquired Fox Brothers
, a West Country
textile mill established in 1772 and still based in Wellington, Somerset
along with fellow shareholder, Douglas Cordeaux, former design director at Pepe Jeans London
. She was also involved in a collaboration with award winning BBC conductor Charles Hazlewood
, 'Play the Field', a weekend of classical music on Charles's farm in Somerset
over the August bank holiday weekend 2009.. In October 2011, Deborah launched 'The Merchant Fox', an online store selling British-made luxury goods with provenance.
programme Dragons' Den
. She took over from Rachel Elnaugh
in Series 3 of the show, which commenced on August 3, 2006. Like Elnaugh who preceded her, Meaden was the only female "dragon" on the programme, although this changed in subsequent seasons due to the arrival of Hilary Devey to replace James Caan. So far in the Den she has agreed investments in 26 businesses to the value of £1,650,000. Only Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis have invested more than Deborah, although they have been on the show for longer. She has been the target of television review comedy snipes, such as Harry Hill's TV Burp
and Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
because of her tough demeanour towards contestants. Despite this image portrayal, however, Meaden remains assertive and simply states in her defence, "I can't stand bullshit'". Deborah is known for constantly stating: "You are insulting my intelligence; I'm out!" and by abruptly raising her hand to dramatically finalise where she stands upon that pitch in the Den.
in April 2009 offering her advice on speaking with conviction.
In January 2010, Meaden appeared alongside her Dragon's Den
co-stars Duncan Bannatyne
and Peter Jones
in the fifth episode of the sixth series of Hustle
.
Meaden appeared in series 4 of the BBC panel show Would I Lie To You?
. On 28 September 2011 she appeared on Ask Rhod Gilbert
, she returned to London
and they married in 1993. The couple have no children, and live on a restored model farm in Somerset
with numerous animals. The couple also have a home in Primrose Hill
, London.
, having previously recorded two other short films for the inward investment agency in February 2009.
Business School.
She also received an honorary degree from Staffordshire University in the same month.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
business woman who ran a multi-million pound family holiday business, before completing a management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
. She is best known for her appearances on the BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
programme Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den (UK)
Dragons' Den is a British television series, hosted by Evan Davis. The format of the show is owned by Sony Pictures and is based on the original Japanese series, which has been sold around the world...
, where she has agreed investments in the Den of £1,605,000 in 26 businesses over the 6 series in which she has taken part to date.
Early life
Meaden was born in SomersetSomerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. Her parents divorced when she was young and her mother moved Deborah and her elder sister Gail to Brightlingsea
Brightlingsea
Brightlingsea is a coastal town in the Tendring district of Essex, England, located between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, situated at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. It has an estimated population of 8500....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. After her mother remarried, she had two more daughters (Cass and Emma) with Brian, the man Meaden calls Dad. Meaden went to the Godolphin School
Godolphin School
The Godolphin School is an independent boarding school for girls at Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, founded in 1726. The school educates some 430 girls between the ages of eleven and eighteen.-History:...
, Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
, for a brief period and then to Trowbridge High School.
Career
On leaving school when she was 16, Meaden studied business at Brighton Technical CollegeCity College Brighton & Hove
City College Brighton & Hove is a large general further education college in Brighton and Hove. Its main campus is at Pelham Street, Brighton. It was formerly known as Brighton College of Technology and before that Brighton Technical College....
, after which she worked as a sales-room model in a fashion house. After graduation, she moved to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at 19 and set up a glass and ceramics export agency, which sold products to high-end retailers including Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols, founded in 1813, is an upmarket department store chain. Its original store is in London. Founded in 1813 as a linen shop, it sells many international brands of clothing for women and men, fashion accessories, beauty products, wine and food...
. The company failed after just 18 months.
Meaden and a partner bought one of the first Stefanel textile franchises
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
in the UK, which was based in the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
; she sold out two years later to her partner for £10,000. She then had several successful leisure and retail businesses including a spell operating a prize bingo
Prize Bingo
Prize Bingo is a game derived from standard Bingo games which is particularly popular in UK seaside resorts. Rather than winning cash prizes as per normal bingo, Prize Bingo instead offers points to the winner of each game which can be redeemed in a dedicated shop near to or within the Prize Bingo...
at Butlins
Butlins
Butlins is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families....
in Minehead
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
.
In 1988 she joined her family's business to run its amusement arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
operations and in 1992 joined Weststar Holidays, a family holiday park operator based in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
but with its major sites based in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. In 1999 she led a management buyout and acquired the majority shareholding. By the time she sold the company 6 years later the Weststar was providing holidays for more than 150,000 people each year with an EBITDA in excess of £11m. In 2005 she made a partial exit when Weststar was sold in a deal worth £33 million to Phoenix Equity Partners
Phoenix Equity Partners
Phoenix Equity Partners is a leading United Kingdom mid-market private equity firm.Phoenix manages funds exceeding £900 million on behalf of leading institutions and other investors from around the world...
, and in August 2007 her remaining stake in Weststar Holidays was liquidated when the firm was sold to Alchemy Partners
Alchemy Partners
Alchemy Partners is a British private equity firm, which specialises in leveraged management buyouts, management buy-ins and the provision of later stage development capital.Alchemy was founded in 1997 by Martin Bolland and Jon Moulton...
for £83m, valuing her stake at about £19m.
In 2009, Meaden acquired Fox Brothers
Fox Brothers
Fox Brothers & Co is a clothmaker based in Wellington, Somerset, England. The company is one of the few working cloth mills still producing cloth entirely in England.-History:...
, a West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
textile mill established in 1772 and still based in Wellington, Somerset
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...
along with fellow shareholder, Douglas Cordeaux, former design director at Pepe Jeans London
Pepe Jeans
Pepe Jeans London is a denim and casual wear jeans brand that was established in the Portobello Road area of London in 1973. From its origins as a tiny market stall to more than half a US billion dollar brand, Pepe has transformed itself into a jeanswear label found throughout Europe...
. She was also involved in a collaboration with award winning BBC conductor Charles Hazlewood
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Matthew Egerton Hazlewood is a British conductor and advocate for broadening access to orchestral music. Renowned for his widespread presence across the BBC, he conducts orchestras around the world, making his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Orchestra of the Age of...
, 'Play the Field', a weekend of classical music on Charles's farm in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
over the August bank holiday weekend 2009.. In October 2011, Deborah launched 'The Merchant Fox', an online store selling British-made luxury goods with provenance.
Dragons' Den
Meaden is most famous for her appearance as a "dragon" on the BBC TwoBBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
programme Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den (UK)
Dragons' Den is a British television series, hosted by Evan Davis. The format of the show is owned by Sony Pictures and is based on the original Japanese series, which has been sold around the world...
. She took over from Rachel Elnaugh
Rachel Elnaugh
Rachel Elnaugh is a British entrepreneur, who came to prominence as an investor on the first two seasons of BBC Two's TV show Dragons' Den, in which hers was the sole female perspective alongside four male entrepreneurs known as the Dragons.-Early life:Her family lived above her father's...
in Series 3 of the show, which commenced on August 3, 2006. Like Elnaugh who preceded her, Meaden was the only female "dragon" on the programme, although this changed in subsequent seasons due to the arrival of Hilary Devey to replace James Caan. So far in the Den she has agreed investments in 26 businesses to the value of £1,650,000. Only Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis have invested more than Deborah, although they have been on the show for longer. She has been the target of television review comedy snipes, such as Harry Hill's TV Burp
Harry Hill's TV Burp
Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy programme produced by Avalon Television for ITV and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show presents a satirical look at the week's television, including extracts from TV shows with added sketches, observational voice-overs, and guest appearances...
and Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.-Format:...
because of her tough demeanour towards contestants. Despite this image portrayal, however, Meaden remains assertive and simply states in her defence, "I can't stand bullshit'". Deborah is known for constantly stating: "You are insulting my intelligence; I'm out!" and by abruptly raising her hand to dramatically finalise where she stands upon that pitch in the Den.
Other TV work
Deborah appeared as a mentor in the BBC2 series The SpeakerThe Speaker
The Speaker is a 2009 British television series, broadcast on BBC Two. It is a talent show type series that aimed to find the best young speaker in the United Kingdom. The show is narrated by Jane Horrocks...
in April 2009 offering her advice on speaking with conviction.
In January 2010, Meaden appeared alongside her Dragon's Den
Dragons' Den (UK)
Dragons' Den is a British television series, hosted by Evan Davis. The format of the show is owned by Sony Pictures and is based on the original Japanese series, which has been sold around the world...
co-stars Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan Walker Bannatyne, OBE is a Scottish entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. His business interests include hotels, health clubs, spas, media, TV, stage schools, property and transport. He is most famous for his appearance as a business angel on the BBC programme Dragons' Den...
and Peter Jones
Peter Jones (entrepreneur)
Peter Jones, CBE is a British entrepreneur and businessman with interests in mobile phones, television, media, leisure, and property. He became a television celebrity through his appearances on the BBC Two show Dragons' Den and on his American television show American Inventor...
in the fifth episode of the sixth series of Hustle
Hustle (TV series)
Hustle is a British television drama series made by Kudos Film and Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom. Created by Tony Jordan and first broadcast in 2004, the series follows a group of con artists who specialise in "long cons" – extended deceptions which require greater commitment, but...
.
Meaden appeared in series 4 of the BBC panel show Would I Lie To You?
Would I Lie To You? (TV series)
Would I Lie to You? is a comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for BBC One. It was first broadcast on 16 June 2007.-Format:The show was presented by Angus Deayton in 2007 and 2008, and by Rob Brydon from 2009 onwards...
. On 28 September 2011 she appeared on Ask Rhod Gilbert
Ask Rhod Gilbert
-External links:*List of at TV.com*List of...
Personal life
Meaden met her husband Paul in summer 1985 while he worked at Weststar during his university break. She didn't want a family and thus they separated, but after she took a trip to VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, she returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and they married in 1993. The couple have no children, and live on a restored model farm in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
with numerous animals. The couple also have a home in Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill is a hill of located on the north side of Regent's Park in London, England, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London to the south-east, as well as Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north...
, London.
Work with Into Somerset
In November 2009, Meaden featured in a short film to promote Somerset to businesses, commissioned by Into SomersetInto Somerset
Into Somerset is the inward investment agency for the county of Somerset, England. - Into Somerset website It works with local authorities, other economic agencies and private sector partners, to encourage business relocation to Somerset....
, having previously recorded two other short films for the inward investment agency in February 2009.
World Wildlife Fund
Deborah is a member of the Council of Ambassadors of the World Wildlife Fund.Planning controversy
In 2009 a planning inspector criticised Meaden's evidence to his enquiry as "implausible" in a dispute over the granting of village green status to a field on which Mudstone LLP, a firm in which she is a partner, wished to build 48 homes. credible".Honours
In July 2010, Deborah Meaden was awarded an honorary degree from the University of ExeterUniversity of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
Business School.
She also received an honorary degree from Staffordshire University in the same month.