Mistakes, heartbreak, arguments, tears – series 22 of Dragons’ Den had it all.
For the last eight weeks I’ve invested my Thursday nights into watching Peter Jones, Steven Bartlett, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies.
The latest series, which ended last night after eight episodes, returned to our screens on 9th January.
Along with the five regular Dragons, fitness guru Joe Wicks, beauty entrepreneur Trinny Woodall and fashion designer Emma Grede all made guest appearances during the series.
And it was Wicks who marked his appearance by making the first investment of the series alongside two of the Den’s most famous faces in Jones and Suleyman.
The trio joined forces to invest in Joseph Keegan’s portable exercise equipment business bodyxcore, giving the Scouser £35,000 each for a share of 12.5% in his ‘gym in a bag’ company.
Wicks went against the norm and the stereotypical stony-faced Dragon style as he teared up after seeing Keegan getting emotional.
“You’re doing brilliant mate,” he told the aspiring entrepreneur. “It’s emotional. Have a breather because I love it.”
North East-based investor Sara Davies solidified her reputation as many viewers’ favourite Dragon after BusinessCloud’s exclusive interview with Choppity CEO Zara Paul.
Paul appeared on the show with their business partner Aaron Morris, whom they are also married to.
The duo received an investment of £100,000 for 15% of their business from Jones, after the business tycoon remarked that the pitch was “the best we’ve seen on the Den”.
The deal unfortunately fell through though, but Paul only had positives to take from the show, especially Davies.
“There was a moment when I saw a member of the production team walking out with a cake and I was told that Sara had baked them – it’s something that she regularly does for all of the crew,” they said.
“She also told me that Aaron and I have a really nice dynamic, which was very lovely.”
Beauty mogul Woodall was the second of the three guest Dragons to appear and quickly made her presence felt with an investment in Laura Harnett’s plastic-free household cleaning solutions company Seep.
She teamed up with Dragons’ Den legend and environmental ambassador Deborah Meaden as they both invested £25,000 for 2% of the business.
In the same episode, tech entrepreneur and podcast host Bartlett stepped out of his comfort zone to invest in Pete Anwyll’s Karta Bottle, a water bottle that can be used as a barbell jack.
After Anwyll tested Bartlett both mentally and physically – persuading the Social Chain founder to test out his product – he was offered £50,000 for a third of his business in a deal which also saw Bartlett offer him a job.
Millions of viewers also saw Lucie McLeod leave the Den empty-handed, but not without controversy, after pitching her hair oils business Hair Syrup.
Fans were outraged after she was offered £190,000 in exchange for 3% of the business by Cypriot-born Suleyman, but only if his full investment was returned after three months and he kept the 3%.
This came after Meaden seemed to have to explain to the already hugely successful McLeod what a dividend was.
McLeod may have left the Den without an offer, but she had the last laugh. The company’s TikTok bio was changed to ‘Rejected by the Dragons, LOVED by TikTok’ and now boasts 352,000 followers and 9m likes.
Bartlett later displayed his business qualities when investing in Will Little’s Little’s Coffee.
He won a four-way Dragon battle to win over the Devon-based entrepreneur, investing £80,000 for 5% of the business.
He said: “In the Den’s history, there’s never been a product that is more well suited for me than this, and that’s why they teamed up against me.”
BusinessCloud found that the pair were already reaping the rewards – the company has become the bestselling instant coffee on Amazon and has reported an uplift in sales of 500% in stores.
Suleyman once again made headlines when he and Davies split a deal with some difficulty.
Tech worker and mum-of-four Hayley Hanigan received £25,000 each from the two who in return got 10% of her business Tiny Explorers.
However, there was heated debate between the business giants before a deal was struck, with Suleyman thinking that he was the best fit for the business to take off.
Having four children, Hanigan must have some experience in teaching the art of the compromise, which is what she did, with both agreeing to team up with the Unilever head of global executive IT.
Grede, the last of the guest Dragons, left it late to make an investment.
She was moved towards the latter stages of episode seven by Midlands-based brothers Brendon and Jaydon Manders, who own sauces and seasonings specialist Lumberjaxe Food Company.
After hearing the brothers’ story about growing up with a single mum, Grede said: “Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s not necessarily about whether or not I can see an immediate return in my money.
“Sometimes it’s about paying it forward, and sometimes you’ve just got to take a chance because the two people standing in front of you feel way too familiar.”
The first black female investor on the show gave the duo £90,000 for 20% of the company.
Last night’s episode was something of an emotional rollercoaster and a fitting way to cap off eight weeks of ups and downs.