Dragons
A drinks packaging concept that was described as “tacky” by BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den has proved so successful its inventor is now taking it to the US.
Entrepreneur James Nash designed and manufactured a machine that fills plastic goblets with wine and seals them with a foil lid, giving the product a 12-month shelf-life.
But when he pitched his idea to the Dragons in 2009 it was dismissed as “tacky” and “too much of a gamble” by Duncan Bannatyne and Theo Paphitis.
But not everyone shared the dragons’ reservations. Investor Norman Catton was watching the show and picked up the phone to offer Nash the £250,000 he had asked the dragons for in return for a 25% stake in the business.
Nash secured a patent, followed by listings in Marks & Spencer, at music concerts and football grounds.
He has now sold 800,000 units of the wine goblet in the UK and has also developed and exported machinery to manufacture the product in Australia and South Africa
He is now looking to take it to the US early next year.
Nash said: “It’s a different set of headaches over there.
“They have three layers of discounting so if you’re a manufacturer you have to use three levels of intermediary, as opposed to the UK’s two. But everything’s cheaper, so it makes sense to manufacture over there to avoid paying duty.”