Rachels Dragons Den story

I wasn’t supposed to do anything remarkable. So I did anyway. In 2008, I walked into the Den with very little going for me on paper. I had no patents, no real trading history, no experience in the packaging industry, and I had never run a business before. The business was starting to grow, but I did not go on the show because I needed the money. In fact, I did not even apply. My business partner at the time had decided he wanted to return to his broadcasting career. Rather than simply stepping away, he came up with a plan. He applied to Dragons’ Den without telling me. If we got on and secured investment, I would have new business partners and he could leave. I only found out when the BBC called and asked what we wanted the investment for. His advice to me was simple. “Blag it.”

Walking into the Den, I was not terrified. I did not think we had much chance, so there was nothing to lose. I just did not want to come across as a complete idiot. What most people do not realise is how exposed you are. You are not allowed notes or paperwork. Every number, every margin, every detail has to live in your head. Before you even step in front of the Dragons, you are kept in a green room for hours with no access to them, so there is no chance to build rapport or soften the ground. Then you walk in and it begins, and it goes on far longer than anyone watching at home realises.

Even the setting is not quite what it looks like. Our series was filmed at Pinewood Studios. There was no grand staircase. That was filmed separately purely for the camera. The piles of cash on the desks are props. And the deal you see agreed on television is not a deal at all. It is a verbal agreement, subject to due diligence, and many never make it past that stage. At the time, none of that crosses your mind. You are just trying to stay standing. What followed was hours of questioning. Relentless, direct, and at times brutal. We were challenged on everything: the business, the margins, the model, and the future of the industry. At that point, even the idea that sustainable packaging could become mainstream was dismissed. It was not comfortable.

In the end, I secured investment from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis: £60,000 for 40 percent of the company. At the time, I was incredibly grateful. Someone believed in the business and someone believed in me. When you are starting out, that belief is powerful.

What Dragons’ Den gave me was not money. It gave me credibility. Almost overnight, people started to notice the business. Not in a loud, headline-grabbing way, but in a steady, meaningful one. Traffic increased, enquiries increased, and the business started to move. And then the real work began. Because what people think Dragons’ Den does and what it actually does are very different things. People assume mentorship, connections, and doors opening. The reality is much simpler. You still have to build the business yourself. After the show aired, everything accelerated faster than I was ready for. At times, it felt like being pushed down a black ski slope with no idea how to ski and no clear sense of where the bottom was. There was speed, but very little control. From the outside, it looked like overnight success. It wasn’t. For years, I paid myself a minimal salary while trying to keep up with the growth and learn fast enough not to break the business. Every decision mattered and every mistake was mine to fix.