Personality of the Year
After blazing across the BBC TV programme Dragon’s Den five years ago, Levi Roots has carved out a reputation as an approachable entrepreneur grounded in his south London community.
Pump primed with £50,000 from the BBC programme, Roots is building an ethnic food empire founded on his Reggae Reggae sauce. His growing portfolio now includes chilled meals, snacks, soft drinks and, launched last year, pasties.
Along the way Roots fought a successful High Court case, which upheld his claims to have developed the Reggae Reggae sauce brand without the help of two businessmen who claimed to have played a key part.
Roots’s next big challenge lies across the Atlantic. However far his business travels, Roots is determined to remain grounded in the south London community that first had faith in his product. Roots always gives credit to his local Brixton community for believing in his brand when bank managers proved tone deaf to his Reggae Reggae sauce brand.
For Roots, it’s not enough to have a good food product. Entrepreneurs need passion to turn it into a market-leading product. “Because music and food are so important in my life, when I talk about food, people can really see the passion in my eyes.”