Red Letter Days is a UK company which pioneered the concept of giving experience day vouchers as gifts and corporate rewards. Also see Experience gifts

Experiential gifts

Experiential gifts also known as gift experiences and experience gifts, pioneered in the UK in the 1990s, now represent one of the faster growing segments of the $253 billion a year gift industry...

.

Red Letter Days is jointly owned by BBC2 Dragons' Den

Dragons' Den

Dragons' Den is a series of reality television programmes featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. The show originated in Japan as "Manē no Tora"...

 entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis

Theo Paphitis

Theodorus "Theo" Paphitis is a retail magnate and British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin. He made the majority of his fortune in the retail sector, and is best known to the general public for his appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den and as former chairman of Millwall...

 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...

, who purchased the company out of administration in August 2005. Following the acquisition, Mr Jones and Mr Paphitis made the decision to honour an estimated 135,000 Red Letter Days vouchers, to a value of approximately £17m.

History

The company was originally founded by former Dragons' Den entrepreneur 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...

, who developed the idea for Red Letter Days after creatively packaging some sporting tickets to give to her father. She saw the opportunity for packaging intangible experiences as gifts and established Red Letter Days in 1989.

Administration

After a poorly made strategic and financial choice of expanding via supermarket distribution, Red Letter Days went into administration on 1 August 2005; the remaining assets and goods were bought by fellow Dragons' Den judges Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis. Although Elnaugh was at the helm before and at the time of the company's failure just days after the birth of her fourth child, she blames the problems on the actions of the last CEO who she appointed in 2002, while she took a non-executive role.

ITV1

ITV1

ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

's "Tonight Programme

Tonight (TV series)

Tonight is a British television newsmagazine, produced by ITV Studios and ITN for the ITV network. Since 1999, Tonight replaced the long-running investigative series World in Action...

" had more critical explanation of the demise of Red Letter Days, including unpaid suppliers and disappointed purchasers. The programme suggested the business model failed to escrow

Escrow

An escrow is:* an arrangement made under contractual provisions between transacting parties, whereby an independent trusted third party receives and disburses money and/or documents for the transacting parties, with the timing of such disbursement by the third party dependent on the fulfillment of...

 or earmark supplier payment equity, instead using it for working capital. However, Rachel Elnaugh blames the company's bankers, who placed £3 million in a bond which they refused to release for use by the firm despite the fact that it related to vouchers that had expired and were not recoverable against the business

Restart

Under its new ownership since 2005, Red Letter Days has continued to offer a wide range of experience days, including car racing, skydiving, white water rafting, hot air ballooning

Hot air ballooning

Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet , the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view...

, paintball

Paintball

Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...

 and bungee jumping

Bungee jumping

Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...

 as well as day spa

Day spa

A day spa is a business establishment which people visit for professionally administered personal care treatments such as massages and facials. It is similar to a beauty salon in that it is only visited for the duration of the treatment. Day spas sited in airport terminals are often called airport...

 experiences.

The corporate department at Red Letter Days provides a number of services including incentive programs, team building

Team building

Team building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to businesses, schools, sports teams, religious or nonprofit organizations designed for improving team performance...

 and event planning

Event planning

Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates, selecting and reserving the event site, acquiring permits, and coordinating transportation and parking...

to businesses across the UK, including a number in the FTSE 100.