September 13, 2011 3.25 pm This story is over 149 months old

Dragons get to don forensic suits for Lincolnshire businesswoman’s pitch

Dragons’ Den: Businesswoman pitched her business to the dragons, who wore forensic suits for the cameras.

Dragons’ Den multimillionaires Theo Paphitis, Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones donned forensic suits when a Lincolnshire businesswoman pitched her business.

The show aired on Monday, September 12, featured Jacqui Thompson, who runs Pulse Education & Business Services from Cranwell, Lincolnshire.

Thompson asked the dragons for a £50,000 investment in exchange for 15% of her business which offers forensic crime scene workshops into schools across the county.

To enact one of her sessions, Thompson got dragons Theo Paphitis, Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones to wear full white forensic suits, to the delight of BBC cameras.

But despite her catchy pitch and approval over the concept from the dragons, the five chose not to invest in Thompson’s business on this occasion.

Episode 7 of Dragons’ Den series 9 is now available on iPlayer.

Behind the scenes at Dragons’ Den

“Pitching to the dragons is a scary experience,” Thompson recalled of her experience at the BBC show.

“You only have a short time in which to pitch, you are surrounded by a big film and production crew and the BBC production staff had also advised me to be aware that the dragons may not go along with what I had planned as part of my pitch, so it was a case of go with the flow.

Jacqui Thompson at Dragons’ Den

“Three of the Dragons each donned a White SOCO Suit, equipped with gloves and masks, and took a closer look at the props which I used, including a Size 14 footprint casting.

“All of the dragons really got into the spirit of the mini production. Indeed, there was lots of banter and finger-pointing towards Peter Jones, as being a potential suspect.

“Unfortunately, faced with five dragons, I really did let my nerves get to me.” When it came to the crunch, all five dragons declared, “I’m out!”

“The subsequent positive feedback revealed that some of the dragons considered that I had a worthy small business, which didn’t need or require their investment”, Thompson explained.

“What matters most to me is not the fact that I didn’t achieve the financial backing, but that I was given the opportunity to go through the Dragons’ Den experience.”

Photos courtesy of BBC