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Peter Ashley's exercise chair had the Dragons in fits of laughter when he appeared in the den but is he bulking up the business now?

After the den Peter went back to the drawing board, redesigning the EasyXChair to make it more simple to operate as he explains: "I'm working on a new type of system which won't need weights anymore and to my way of thinking is a revolutionary system. It's lightweight and it develops a resistance from 6 to 60 kilos just the same as an ordinary weight stack."

Peter has ditched the leather armchair and says he has a new unit that can be attached to any chair, including office swivel chairs. He’s also designed an exercise unit that can be stored away to provide an ambient light when not in use.

Although he admits "An inventor's life is a nightmare!" Peter remains extremely dedicated, even remortgaging his house to pay for the patents. Peter tells us that he is optimistic about the success of his products: "I feel that even in the financial crisis we have at the moment, people still need to exercise and keep fit. So they can no longer afford to go to a gym club costing £500 to £1000 per year when they can buy my machine at half the cost"

Peter was interviewed for this article on July 30 2009