We scored an offer from Touker Suleyman on BBC One Dragons Den!

As seen on BBC One Dragons Den!

BBC One Dragons' Den is famous for being a British business reality television programme, presented by the well-known Evan Davis! The show allows entrepreneurs to present their varying business ideas to a panel of five wealthy and successful business investors. Entrepreneurs pitch their ideas on the show, for financial investment while offering a stake in their company in return.

The first Dragons Den episode was broadcast on BBC Two in 2005. The latest series that we feature in, is due to air on 5th January 2023 on BBC One at 8 pm, this will be the twentieth series since the show first started. Dragons Den is produced by BBC Studios Factual Entertainment Productions and co-produced with Sony Pictures Television!

Have you seen our pitch on BBC One Dragons Den 2023? We have a full feature in episode two, our founder and CEO Ben Pearson, ventured into Dragons Den seeking an investment of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds for a ten-percentage share in his company Bigclothing4u. Ben was told by the Dragons (namely Steven) “this must be one of the best pitches we have seen in the Den”! Ben pitched our brand, his background, and aspirations to the Dragons; Sara Davies, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones.

Ben’s appearance on Dragons’ Den, was “nerve-racking” being an individual on the autistic spectrum, but as Ben expressed while on the show, he will never be held back! Ben, is a budding entrepreneur and businessman that didn’t fail to impress the Dragons with his wealth of knowledge, and “honest and direct answers” to questions put in front of him.  

Dragon low down on Big Clothing For You!

Peter Jones is the longest-serving Dragon in the world and he is a mathematics genius, he detected a flaw in the business's financial accounts and coupled with the fact he lacks connection in the sector, decided to declare himself “out”, very early on! Sara Davies didn’t feel she was the right fit for investing in the clothing industry and decided to declare herself out too. While Deborah Meaden was a connection Ben was familiar with, from his work with Anna Kennedy OBE and Brand Ambassador for Anna Kennedy Online (an autistic charity). Deborah and Bigclothing4u did not see eye to eye on their ethical beliefs and for that reason, the fit wasn’t right. Deborah feared we would get wrapped up in ethical issues and it would likely hinder the progress and distract us from making as much traction as we should. Steven Bartlett decided he wasn’t the right fit for Bigclothing4u, due to his experience and background, this was a major disappointment for Ben, as Steven has made millions in his social media dealings. His background with adversity and poverty resonates with Ben. Steven Bartlett, applauded Ben for what he has overcome and said it would be a pleasure, but didn’t feel it was the right for him to invest.

Retail business mogul Touker Suleyman made most of his fortune in the clothing retail sector, today he stands as one of the global leading manufacturers in the apparel industry. Touker is often known as the founder of quintessentially British menswear, Hawes & Curtis and the man credited with reinventing the nineties womenswear label, Ghost. He was the only Dragon to make an offer, albeit at the eleventh hour! But Ben didn’t mind, as he secretly wanted Touker Suleyman’s experience in the retail sector to help drive Bigclothing4u forward. Ben is a big believer that when something is right, you don’t need to fight (trusting the universe). Touker offered £150,000 for 35% in the business, Ben asked if he could “speak to the wall”! Ben returned and said he would love to accept the offer and couldn’t wait to start working with Touker.

Did you know the rare knowledge about Touker? He owns a twenty million pound ‘James Bond-style' house in South London, which he rents out to A-list celebrities. The Beckhams stayed at the property in 2013 which gained coverage in the press.

After leaving school, Suleyman joined a chartered accountancy company in London and went on to buy Hawes & Curtis. The company was £500,000 in debt and was about to go into administration. The turnover rose from £600,000 in 2001 to £30 million in 2014, whilst Suleyman retained the chairman of Hawes & Curtis.

As many of you will no doubt be intrigued to know, why did Ben appear on Dragons Den when he already runs a highly successful business? Ben: We do not have the economy of scale with international shipments and require the investment to help scale the business globally, by creating website storefronts that are different for each international customer depending on location and language. Each country will have its own search engine and payment gateway methods, we need to ensure our site is compatible with these.

We managed to get an exclusive interview with Ben to find out how he got on while in the Den! In Ben's words;

I have been watching Dragons Den for many years, it is one of my favourite programs of all time! This is another thing ticked off my bucket list!

The BBC is extremely well run from the initial contact with the producers, I knew I was in safe hands. We made them aware of my autism and the reasonable adjustments that would be required for me to appear on the show. The night before the show I stayed in a hotel close to the venture in Manchester and at every step of the way, I felt support from my key contact at the BBC. She contacted me regularly, even just for regular check-in calls “is your journey going well?”, “do you need anything?”. The support was honestly second to none, couldn’t ask for better. On the morning of the show, when I arrived, I was introduced to everybody and asked exactly what I need to feel comfortable, they provided everything “another drink of water” – yes, I drink gallons…. For me, the lead-up to events is often harder than the actual event, as it’s the fear of the unknown and “what if” sets in. My rehearsals were an absolute mess, and I was bricking it, but with my confidence and support of the BBC, I knew I would be a winner! From the moment it was ‘live’, I switched to another mode, and this was game time!! I hit that stage with confidence and demonstrated how knowledgeable I was. The words simply slipped off my tongue; it was plain sailing therein. Being like-minded with the Dragons and being on the same page, helped an awful lot as this connection made the entire event seamless.

If you missed our pitch, you could find it available on BBC iPlayer where you can catch up on shows that have aired and in addition, the BBC often publishes entrepreneurs’ pitches on separate YouTube clips. You can find the individual footage from the show on the BBC YouTube channel.

Do you have a viable and potentially profitable business, or already run a business but require help from an experienced Dragon to move it forward and lack funding? If you are interested in taking part in the next series of Dragons Den, why not “screw it let's do it” *quote Richard Branson and complete the application form today

If you are successful and are looking forward to going on Dragons Den in the future, Ben has agreed to share his pitch with you – Ben’s Dragons Den pitch goes like this….

Hello Dragons, my name is Ben Pearson.

I am the owner and founder of Bigclothing4u.

From a young age, I’ve been in social care, diagnosed with Autism and several other disabilities.

I’ve never allowed that to hold me back.

Due to mental health, I put on a lot of weight and reached nearly 30 stone.

I found it impossible to find clothing on the high street, never mind fashionable.

All my life I’ve felt I’ve been penalised and discriminated against for being different.

When this issue came about and make me feel upset from trying to buy clothing, I thought there must be something I can do about this massive gap in a growing market.

In 2015 we start up Bigclothing4u from my bedroom and I have been relentless every single day since!

In 2020 we started our own trademarked brand name called “Uptheir”, over 90% of our product is now our own brand, in turn meaning we can get much more favourable margins and not have to pay loyalty to other brands for use of their brand name.

In 2021 we turned over around 2.9 million and in 2022 we are on target for 3.5 million

We have also teamed up with the likes of Harvey Price who also has Autism (Katie Price’s son).

We are in the process of bringing out a collection for Mitch Winehouse and donating some profits to the charity Amy Winehouse Foundation.

I am an ambassador for Anna Kennedy OBE, helping to spread autism awareness.

I am here today to pitch for 150k for a 10% share in Bigclothing4u.

Why would we need that investment? This investment and your expertise are going to help us take this brand to the next level and beyond.

We would like to expand into international markets, we do currently ship to over 50 international counties, but this isn’t targeted. With your investment and support, we would create country-specific websites to target them in their own language/region search engine.

We currently have an issue with shipping costs to consumers as our rates are based on volumes and we are getting massively outpriced by our competitors as they are sending much larger volumes as they have sister companies or investors.

We are looking for your expertise and connections to help us, overcome the hurdles we face with shipping - marketing internationally.

Today we have a selection of clothing from various categories from our collection for you to get an insight into what we sell, this includes anything from casual joggers to formal chinos and shirts.

We also have provided you with two items each by your side.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to your questions.