The Dragons Den is one of the most popular BBC Two TV Shows. One of the multi-millionaires on this show is Deborah Meaden. Deborah Meaden is a British businesswoman, famous for her appearances on BBC Two Dragons’ Den TV business program.
Deborah Meaden’s net worth is estimated to be £60 million. Her earnings are from her business, investment on some Dragons Den’s startups and her appearances on the TV program.
Do you know Deborah Meaden’s parents were so poor that her mother sometimes went without food, so Deborah would have enough to eat? Little wonder the successful entrepreneur determined in her early age that she would be a businesswoman. She has proven it to all that women can thrive in business. In this article, I will give you a breakdown of Deborah Meaden role in Dragons’ Den, her net worth, husband and children.
Early life
Deborah Meaden was born on 11th February 1959 in Taunton Somerset, England. Sonia, her mother, moved to Essex with Deborah, and her sister Gail after she divorced her husband. Meaden attended Trowbridge High School after a brief period at Godolphin School, Salisbury. At the age of eight, she earned her first income leading pony rides along Minehead seafront. That job made her develop great interest and love for horses which made her adopt six former race horses to her care. She finished at the age of 16 and enrolled at Brighton Technical College to study business, and she briefly worked as a sales-room model in a fashion house before she moved to Italy.
Business Growth
At 19 years old, she set up a glass and ceramics export agency, but the business failed some months later when it lacked the finances to embark on a legal fight for the rights to run against giant competitors. Meaden tried her hands on other retail businesses such as Prize Bingo at Butlins in Minehead, becoming one of the first Stefanel textile franchises in the UK before she joined her family business.
Family Business
With success in a few businesses, Meaden joined her family amusement arcade business in 1988. She started down the ladder of operations and worked her way up the company ranks. By 1992, she led the company to join Weststar Holidays, a family holiday Park operator in Exeter. She became the Managing Director two years later, having led a management buyout and acquired a higher percentage of the shareholding. To do this, she borrowed funds from Lloyds, and the company caters for over 150,000 holidaying people each year.
The growth of the business attracted investors bidding to buy the company stakes, and in 2005, she succumbed and sold the company to Phoenix Equity Partners in a deal worth £33 million. She retained a 23% stake and an active role in the firm. In August 2007, she received her stake valued of £19 million when Weststar Holidays was sold to Park dean Holidays (Alchemy Partners) for £83 million.
That didn’t mark her end in business, in 2007, Meaden acquired For Brothers along with Douglas Cordeaux, a fellow shareholder and former design director at Pepe Jeans London. Fox Brothers is a 1772 West Country textile-based in Meaden’s home town Somerset.
Deborah Meaden & Dragons’ Den
Meaden is famous for her appearances on BBC Two Dragons’ Den business program. Meaden replaced Rachael Elnaugh in the third series of the show in 2006. As at that period, she was the only female dragon, although that changed since the fourth season. She has been on the Dragons’ Den till present and had a total of £3,746,000 investment in Dragons’ Den.
Deborah’s investment Portfolio ranges from fashion, manufacturing and drinks. These investments include but not limited to Hope & Ivy (fashion), Rehook (Bicycle chain fix), ITAE Group (Medical), The Drinks Bakery, Dock & Bay (Dry towels), Marxman (drilling marking tool), Rempods, Boot Buddy, The Merchant Fox, Grip it and so on.
Deborah Meaden’s husband and family
Deborah Meaden’s mother was Sonia who started a family business with Meaden’s step-father Brian. It was this business that Meaden grew into a multi-million company before she sold her stake in 2007 for £19 million. Her elder sister is Gail. Meaden is 60 years old.
Meaden is married to Paul who she met in 1985 at Weststar. They got married in 1993 and they no children together. Meaden once confessed of wanting to have children, but it just didn’t happen. The couple lives on a property near Langport in Somerset, a property she bought in 2006 from the proceeds she earned from the sale of Weststar Holidays. Meaden purchased the property from the owner William Pitt The Elder. Meaden had spent probably more than she could get back on renovating the property to suit her taste.
Meaden enjoys her home at Somerset with two cats, three dogs, six horses which were formerly racehorses, three pigs, four sheep and three geese. She spends £ 360 to massage her six horses which usually done every two months.
Other Deborah Meaden Engagements
Meaden is a member of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and an ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society. In the year 2010, she received an honorary degree from the University of Exeter Business School and Staffordshire University. Meaden has positively contributed towards opening her home town Somerset to businesses and investors; she has recorded and featured in short films to promote Somerset to businesses. Meaden is also a philanthropist, she is committed to some charities such as Lendwithcare, and Tusk Trust, an environmental charity which works to alleviate poverty in Africa and protect wildlife.
Meaden also partook in BBC One dancing show Strictly Come Dancing in 2003 and had featured in very many TV shows. Such as Hustle (2010), Loose Woman (2011 – 2017), Beast of Man, Episode 8 (2019), Don’t Ask Me Ask Britain (2017), Sunday Brunch (2017) and so on.
Deborah Meaden Net Worth
Deborah Meaden’s net worth is estimated to be £60 million. Her earnings are from her business, investment on some Dragons Den’s businesses and her appearances on the TV program.