Hi, Namulanta Combo here, and I'm excited to tell you that my award-winning podcast, Dear Daughter, is back for a second season, and it's available now. Find out more at the end of this podcast.

The sound of a whiskey sour being prepared.

I've come to a cocktail bar called Disreput in central London to meet its owner.

She took a bet at the height of the pandemic that places like this could thrive again.

At the time, everybody thought we were completely bonkers.

And it was difficult.

You know, we dragged it kicking and screaming over the line.

I'm Dougal Shaw and welcome to another edition of Business Daily Meats on the BBC World Service.

This is where we bring you in-depth interviews with people in business from across the globe.

Today I'm speaking to Sarah Willingham. She's worked in the UK hospitality industry since her teens,

slowly rising to the top through various chain restaurants and her own ventures.

Being an entrepreneur is a very lonely place at times,

and you will fall into a hole,

and you need a little backpack with a propeller on your back,

where you've got to be able to fly out of the hole yourself because nobody's pulling you out.

She's also known in the UK for starring in TV show Dragon's Den.

In 2020, in the midst of lockdowns, she set up the company Nightcap,

sensing the opportunity to grow an empire of high-end drinking spots like the one I met her at.

So Sarah Willing, we're sitting in disrepute in a sort of tunnel, cavern type cubbyhole.

It is a very cool place, very cool decor.

And you had the idea in 2020 of the Mike Cat business.

That's, you know, deep in COVID.

...