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Deborah built three businesses before taking on her family’s holiday parks empire, working from the shop floor upto MD. She concentrated on service, kept the most profitable locations and later sold the business to Parkdean Holidays before joining the Dragons' Den panel. Deborah refutes the idea that the customer is king. She prefers to treat them as respected friends: “We should care about their opinions and deal with their problems, but accept the limits of the relationship.”
View / Submit“Her rich content engaged even the most senior members of the audience”
CMI
Deborah Meaden is an entrepreneur, investor and business leader, who, having appeared in over 20 series of Dragons’ Den, is one of the UK’s best known businesspeople. Her journey has taken her from teenage founder of a glass and ceramics import company to leading a nationwide leisure business to media personality.
After starting her import business and supplying the likes of Harvey Nichols, Deborah started a fashion franchise before moving to the industry where she would build her career, leisure and hospitality. Deborah worked her way up from the shop floor, learning the fundamentals of pubs, restaurants and accommodation, becoming Operations Director and then MD of her family’s holiday park business. She led expansion via a management buyout and later private equity investment before selling the business to Parkdean Holidays. Deborah is now a investor, with interests in over 50 businesses.
Having moved away from directly leading a company, Deborah joined the BBC show, Dragons’ Den, grilling entrepreneurs and inventors about their business plans on prime time television. As a result, she has invested in and mentored a wide range of businesses. She has also gone on to appear on Strictly Come Dancing and Great British Bake Off, and is a regular commentator on business, entrepreneurship and consumer finance matters. She is the author of Common Sense Rules: What You Really Need to Know About Business, as well as titles aimed at children and young people about money and money management, including Deborah Meaden Talks Money. An active advocate and campaign for responsible business, nature and sustainability, Deborah is also the co-host, alongside Felicity Hannah, of The Big Green Money podcast which explores businesses’ impact on the planet.
