Deborah Meaden, businesswoman

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Deborah Meaden is a businesswoman and entrepreneur. She’s been one of the investment ‘Dragons’ in the BBC TV series since 2006. Destined to be a successful entrepreneur, Deborah Meaden launched her first business straight out of college at nineteen years old, importing artisan Italian glass and ceramic homeware goods to the UK. After running various franchise businesses, she joined her family company, Weststar Holidays and eventually became Managing Director. A few years later, when her parents wanted to retire, she bought them out of the business and later sold the company making her a multi-millionaire. Deborah is now a full time investor with a wide ranging portfolio. For the last fifteen years, she has been one of the investment Dragons on BBC TV’s Dragon’s Den. Even though she has many millions in the bank, she has no plans to step back from business. “Why would I stop doing something that I love?” She lives in Somerset with her husband, Paul. DISC ONE: Ride a White Swan by T. Rex DISC TWO: The Bottle by Gil Scott-Heron / Brian Jackson DISC THREE: Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye DISC FOUR: Don't Push It Don't Force It by Leon Haywood DISC FIVE: Money's Too Tight To Mention by The Valentine Brothers DISC SIX: El Condor Pasa by Simon And Garfunkel DISC SEVEN: Suite: The Planets – Jupiter composed by Gustav Holst, performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent DISC EIGHT: Be Thankful For What You've Got by William De Vaughn BOOK CHOICE: A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor LUXURY ITEM: A sketch book and pencil CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Be Thankful For What You've Got by William De Vaughn Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:05.1	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.8	Every week I ask my guests to choose the 8 tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take
0:13.5	with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.6	For right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:20.6	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:43.1	My cast away this week is the entrepreneur, Deborah Meadon.
0:47.0	For 15 years she's been making deals and occasionally dashing dreams in the BBC's Dragon's
0:52.4	Den.
0:53.4	Her own entrepreneurial fire sparked at a young age.
0:56.6	By the time she was 7, she was selling flowers from a stall at the end of her family's
1:01.0	driveway.
1:02.0	Her first official business took off while she was still in her teens.
1:05.6	She was living in Italy and launched a whole-mere company, selling glassware and ceramics
1:10.0	to high-end stores back in the UK.
1:12.7	After that she worked in fashion, then in the holiday industry, joining her family's
1:16.8	business, arcade concessions in holiday parks.
1:20.2	In those years she discovered that she was a natural bingo-caller and a natural at calling
1:25.3	the shots.
1:26.4	She started out on the shop floor and worked her way up before buying her parents out.
1:31.2	She built the business up, eventually selling her remaining stake as part of a deal worth
1:36.2	£83m.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.