Sarah Willingham
With Dragons’ Den back on telly over the Christmas break, Emily Horton chats to the new Dragon lady – mum of four Sarah Willingham whose mumpreneur lifestyle appeals to aspiring mums across the country
Move over Duncan Bannatyne, because you’re not getting your chair back. A new Dragon has firmly cemented her place on Dragons’ Den, the hit BBC2 show – and she has got us wanting more...
Enter so-called ‘mumpreneur’ Sarah Willingham, a far more likeable candidate than many of her stern-faced predecessors. My money’s on the fact that this sassy mum of four from Stoke and one of three new investors on the revamped Dragon panel, is the secret to the success of this latest series, which has attracted the show’s highest ratings in four years.
Her warm, almost maternal, approach has been a breath of fresh air and has endeared her to viewers across the country. It’s an appeal that has won her a place on next year’s series.
“I think it is great that the BBC has embraced the fact that I am a hands-on mum of four young children who works and has done all right,” she tells me from her home near Reading. “It has been an absolute privilege to have been asked to be a part of the show. If my joining it gives even just one mum the belief that they can juggle motherhood and their own business without compromising their family values, then that’s a job well done.”
At 41, Sarah is the youngest-ever female business buff to be granted a spot on the Dragons’ Den panel. Was she daunted by the prospect of joining some of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs (fellow Dragon Nick Jenkins sold Moonpig.com, his greetings card company, in 2011 for £120 million, and clothing tycoon Touker Suleyman is reportedly worth £150m)?
“For sure, Duncan Bannatyne’s chair is an enormous one to fill, and I don’t mean physically…,” she says, her infectious laugh ringing down the phone. “But Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones were so cool. They were very welcoming, friendly and lovely. They even helped to coach us newcomers.”
As if she or her fellow Dragons needed coaching, I suggest.
“In my world, no question is a stupid one, so I just asked away, no matter how stupid my questions may have sounded,” Sarah replies. “I’m on a quest to do better, be better and learn more – and I was lucky that the other Dragons responded really well to that.”
Sarah Willingham
Dragon's Den selfie with Sarah Willingham
Sarah has been a fan of the show since the very first series in 2005. She admits that, in the past, she has screamed at the television in response to what some of the entrepreneurs have had to say. However, life on the other side of the screen is more restrained, as Sarah has discovered.
“When you’re actually inside the Den, the last thing you want to do is scream because you realise just how hard it is for the entrepreneurs.”
What – Dragons with a heart, I ask.
“Of course – the five of us must be so intimidating,” she says. “On my first day, when the others had sat down, I took the short walk from the lift to where the entrepreneurs stand and speak to us. I stood there, looking at the Dragons and trying to imagine what it must feel like for them. My heart started racing; it is a scary place to be.
“The experience inspired me to really will the entrepreneurs to succeed. I always tried to start by smiling at them. After all, being on Dragons’ Den is a great opportunity and you don’t want it to be nerves that messes it up for them. The world is about respect, isn’t it? Just because I am sitting in a Dragon’s chair doesn’t mean I am better than the people in front of me.”
Born in Stoke-on-Trent to a former teacher and Wedgewood factory employee, Sarah’s journey to Dragons’ Den has been a varied but rewarding one. She began her career in the hospitality trade at the age of 13, as a way of meeting people. After studying at Oxford Brookes University and the École supérieure de commerce – or Sup de Co business school, for short – in La Rochelle, France, Sarah honed her craft with the Planet Hollywood restaurant group, before being poached by Pizza Express.
By the age of 28 she decided that if she was to realise her dream of having a large family, she wouldn’t be able to continue living out of a suitcase and working for other people.
She conceived the idea of buying the Bombay Bicycle Club restaurants in London and developing them into a chain. She proposed the plan to her then bosses, but they weren’t interested – and so she seized her chance.
After a year at Cranfield Business School studying for an MBA, she raised the capital to buy the business and built it up from a loss-making chain of six restaurants to one with 17 outlets. After three years, she sold her stake for £2.3m.
With her business partner and husband Michael Toxvaerd, who she met at Cranfield, Sarah has an interest in 12 businesses including the popular bar company London Cocktail Club, and the money-saving website, letssavemoney.com. She has also become a self-styled consumer champion, presenting personal finance slots on TV shows Good Morning and Sunrise.
How does she do it, I ask?
Sarah Willingham
“Getting that work-life balance right is the hardest thing I do,” Sarah admits. “I have to prioritise my time and, of course, there are things you have to compromise on.”
To prove her point, Sarah admits she was in hospital for 12 weeks before the birth of her daughter Minnie, and held board meetings from her bed. However, she is clear that she put her health, and that of her baby, first.
“Nothing is more important than my family and I would not hesitate to give anything up if I believed that it was affecting our family life. I could have opened another 50 restaurants with the Bombay Bicycle Club, but I sold it because it was the right thing to do for the family. Essentially, you have to listen to yourself, trust your own instincts and find the balance that is right for you. I have found a balance that works for me, but it doesn’t mean it is right for everybody else.”
However, it’s all very well managing her own businesses but how, in her role as a Dragon, does she go about identifying good business people and helping to manage theirs?
“Identifying a good investment starts with the individual,” says Sarah. “Even if they have a great business, I need to know I can work with them personally. Can they succeed without me? I’m not going to run their business for them, so I need to see that they are absolutely self-propelled.
“Then, I need to know it’s an enterprise I’m going to enjoy getting stuck into, and can add value to. We all know that unless you’re passionate about something, you’re not going to make a real difference.
“Above all, you shouldn’t sit in the Den if you can’t afford to invest, and you have nothing to give. Investing is about having something to add to a business; helping the founder to move on to the next stage. I don’t like to invest more than 50% because it’s important that the business remains theirs.”
Having ‘mum’ time is important to Sarah. She and Michael work from home to maximise time with their children who vary in age from four to nine years.
A housekeeper helps out from Monday to Thursday but other than that, it’s just Sarah and Michael at home with the kids.
“It’s a constant juggle, and we have a very strict diary system,” she says. “Either I’m at work, or I’m a mum. We also take very long holidays and I try not to work on a Friday so that the weekends really are my time with the kids. That Michael and I are both extremely chilled when it comes to the normal stresses of life also makes it much easier. I think that should be in the application form when you go for four kids.”
Given her love of family, I wonder what she thinks about female CEOs taking just two weeks’ maternity leave.
“When I had my own businesses, I never really stopped working,” she says. “My babies went everywhere with me. I breastfed them for their first six months and they were strapped to my chest while I was going around looking at restaurants.
“I love what I do and I love working. Nobody has ever batted an eyelid that I’ve often got my babies with me. When you have a young baby and it’s your own business, you can do anything.
“Of course, it’s very different if you’re working for someone. Not enough larger businesses do enough to embrace the fact that you can’t fight nature. In any case, a woman shouldn’t have to. If a woman needs to be a mum, then you have got to let her be a mum.”
I can’t sign off without asking Sarah if she has any advice to offer aspiring business women, especially in light of the recent story about a female lawyer who took offence at what she considered to be a “sexist” and “offensive” message sent to her by a fellow lawyer on the professionals’ networking site, LinkedIn.
“It’s important, very early on, that you very politely and respectfully explain why such behaviour is unacceptable,” she says. “Then, having dealt with it, tell yourself this is your chance to shine in a world full of men in grey suits.”
As our conversation draws to an end, Sarah really comes into her own – and I start to envy the entrepreneurs who benefit from her mentoring.
“Don’t be afraid to be brilliant, ladies,” she says. “By being brilliant, you allow other people to be brilliant. More women should stand up and excel in business, because that helps other people to live their dreams, too.”
At last, a Dragon with a message – and a heart.
Dragon's Den is on BBC 2 on December 28, Jan 3, Jan 9 and Jan 10; or watch it again in iPlayer
