DRAGONS’ Den viewers were left screaming at their TVs tonight after Deborah Meaden backtracked and withdrew her offer of £75,000.
After initially being tempted by what she thought was a lucrative offer, the hopefuls went too far and managed to annoy the business mogul.
Appearing on the BBC show, Lee Denny and Julia Lowe pitched their idea of Camp Wildfire to the Dragons, which they dubbed “the UK’s first summer camp for adults”.
Having worked in festivals for a decade, they felt they had identified a gap in the market and wanted to offer something different.
They put forward their proposal, explaining the concept: “At Camp Wildfire, you would venture by day and party by night.
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“There’s a choice of over 100 activities and 50 bands and DJs.
“You’ll spend your days driving quad bikes, firing arrows, climbing trees and building rafts, and as night falls, you’ll feast on banquets, party in the forest, and cosy up around campfires.”
The ambitious business partners offered the Dragons a 5% stake in their company in return for a £75,000 investment.
While the rest of the panel opted out of the chance to invest, Deborah Meaden was intrigued and listened intently as Lee and Julia told her they predicted net profits of £315,000 for the upcoming year.
“I really like it,” she told the pair.
“When I was in the holiday park industry, people coming in and providing a ‘wow’ piece for my customers was absolute gold dust.
“So, I can clearly see what we can do with this.”
The pair seemed delighted at the prospect of working with the entrepreneur, who they had already admitted to cameras was their favourite Dragon.
Despite some “serious structural problems” that Deborah offered to help them overcome, she offered Lee and Julia the full £75,000 but wanted a 25% stake instead of 5%.
After taking a moment to discuss the offer, they went back with a counter offer, which is where things started to go wrong.
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Lee asked: “We would like to ask if it would be possible to do 20% and, if we hit our numbers, which we believe we can, in the next season we run £315k, would you be willing to roll back to the 5% that we pitched?”
Appearing shocked and insulted, she replied: “5%? No!
“That kind of misses the point because, if I’m having an impact on this business, then I’ll be part of you achieving the £315k. I mean, it’s completely illogical! So, no, is the answer.”
Struggling to stay on track, Lee asked if she’d be willing to offer the full £75k for 20% but in a unfortunate twist, Deborah decided she didn’t want to invest at all.
“Do you know, in your last counteroffer, I’ve gotta tell you, I nearly fell off my chair,” she told them. “And that really worried me.”
“I’m getting insights into how you are going to be when you go out there and you do business and, do you know what? I’m afraid I withdraw my offer. I’m out.”
Viewers of the show were left shocked by the sudden change of heart and flocked to Twitter to share their frustration.
One person wrote: “What fools! I’d have bitten off Deborah’s hand!”
“OMG what a complete disaster. I was screaming at the TV to just take the 25%!! Big mistake. HUGE’, screamed someone else.
A third viewer fumed: “You absolute idiots!!!”
Another person agreed, writing: “Idiots !! You don’t insult your investors.”
