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Name | Susan Bell and Jonathan Jones |
Pitching | Butterfly Technlogy |
Investment Required | £75,000 |
Equity Offered | 15% |
Brief Description | Invention that dispenses all product from a tube without any wastage. |
NHS nurse Susan and her business partner Jonathan give a detailed and fluent pitch which immediately raises concerns with Peter Jones.
He is worried it is not something a manufacturer would want to introduce as it will slow down the volume of sales.
Susan replies that it would, on the contrary, give a value to their offering and the beauty industry, for one, is interested.
Theo Paphitis asks who she has shown the product to and Susan makes clear she is aiming at high value ethical brands rather than mass market high volume ones. "I do believe this will revolutionalise the tube industry", she predicts.
Duncan Bannatyne is puzzled as to why money-conscious consumers would not make use of some of the key-type devices already available but Susan insists that it remains ludicrous that as much as 10% of a product has to be thrown away - you would never expect it of pizzas, so why should you put up with it with tubes?
Theo Paphitis wants good financial reasons for investing and the duo report they have taken it to a tube manufactuer who has in turn taken it to three of their customers. The next stage would be to move from prototype to fully manufactured tool and the pair expect the licence agreement alone to generate £160,000 turnover in the first year of trading.
Deborah Meaden confesses that she saw Susan's story in a national broadsheet a year ago and asked herself then whether it was something she should consider investing in. She didn't contact the couple then and her reason was simple - their invention would mean adding another plastic-based widget to the existing plastic tube and for her this would not provide an environmentally friendly solution.
Susan sticks to her guns, claiming the carbon footprint of the wasted product is likely to be greater than the additional plastic in the tube.
Deborah is having none of it. In a year, despite the national publicity, the pair's product hasn't taken off. She is out.
James Caan agrees with Deborah. If the product is as good as they claim then in the year since the newspaper article someone would have approached them. They haven't - and neither will he. James is out.
Retail magnate Theo Paphitis thinks the invention is simply not viable and he, too, is out.
Duncan Bannatyne believes the product doesn't have a market and, like the other Dragons, thinks it would have already taken off if anyone thought it had. He is out.
Peter Jones is left the last word. Susan is a "strong, dynamic individual" but like many such individuals she "doesn't listen". He believes the product won't get into the market and so he too is out. The frustrated pair leave the Den empty handed.
No investment.
Nearly £1.5m has been invested in this series. Is the Den recession proof, and if so, why?
Other household products pitched to the Dragons
Susan & Jonathan, Butterfly Technology
Michael Pritchard, Anyway Spray
Samantha Gore, Crime Prevention
Ronan McCarthy, Spit n Polish
Jason Roberts, Tech 21
Paul Ward, Germwarfare
William T Sachiti, Clever Bins
Tony & Steven, Commercial Cleaning
Lawrence & Frank, Lid Lifters
Adejare Doherty, The Wholeleaf Co
Shaun Pulfrey, Tangle Teezer
Henry Clayton, The Millie Mova
Carol Bailey, Bags of Life
Natalie Ellis, Road Refresher
Eddie Middleton, Westhawk
Steve Smith, TrueCall Ltd
James Seddon, EggXactly
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