Dragons’ Den pitcher turned down ‘greatest money supply ever’ however sells throughout UK

The entrepreneurs turned down Peter Jones’s “biggest cash offer ever” within the Dragons’ Den as they didn’t assume he was “magical enough”.

The pair personal The Potions Cauldron store in Shambles, York in addition to the Hole in Wand golf course within the Coppergate Centre.

The Potions Cauldron is a drink and reward store, and the Hole in Wand is a wizarding mini golf centre. They hope to develop into the largest mini golf chain within the UK and intention to make use of the funding to open up a brand new venue.

During his pitch, Phil defined their enterprise was difficult to grasp attributable to their perception in magic.

Ben, the chief enchant officer, mentioned he hoped they might deliver “magic, surprise, and mystery,” to the den together with his companies, which turned over £1.4 million final yr.

However, throughout their pitch, the Dragons’ had been unable to make sense of the numbers the pair put ahead, which made them reluctant to take a position. Four of them mentioned they might not make investments.

After a grilling from the Dragons’ Ben and Phil didn’t assume they’d get a suggestion, however Peter Jones pulled by means of, providing them their requested £200,000 however for a 33 p.c stake of their enterprise.

During negotiations, he diminished his potential stake to fifteen p.c, nonetheless, the pair determined that giving up that a lot of their enterprise for £200,000 was out of the query.

Ben advised The Sun: “We obtained supplied Peter’s greatest ever money supply. He’s been in offers earlier than the place he is supplied that quantity with three or 4 different Dragons however that is the largest sum of money Peter Jones has ever supplied in a single deal.

“It was a lot of cash you could see the other Dragons rolling their eyes. They were shocked that one Dragon would be parting with so much cash.

“It sounds horrible however we turned it down as a result of we simply did not really feel like he was magical sufficient.

“What we wanted was someone to buy into the whole idea. We wanted a trainee wizard as well as a business guru and he seemed to only be interested in the numbers – not the magic, which is what our business is about.”

Despite leaving the Den emptyhanded, the pair have been able to open further shops across the UK.

They opened The Potions Cauldron shop in Shambles, York, in October 2018 where they sell shape-shifting drinks, sweets, bath salts and mini paint-your-own statues of Grobblenook the gargoyles.

In May 2021, they then opened ‘The Hole in the Wand’ Wizard golf in York’s Coppergate.

In January 2022, the ‘Potions Express’ opened at York Train Station, selling drinks, snacks, and magical gifts.

They now have a Hole In Wand in the Coppergate Centre and as well as in Blackpool too.

They have also just opened The Potion’s Cauldron in Edinburgh too.

Their appearance on the show has helped boost their expansion plans.

Ben told YorkMix: “After conquering Yorkshire and Lancashire it was time to go north of the border.

“Off the back of Dragons’ Den, there has been lots of interest and opportunities to take the magic further afield.

“As we mentioned on Dragons’ Den, we also wanted to go Edinburgh next.

“The shop on Rose Street gives us more room than we have in Shambles so includes our new Wand Photo Experience.”

Episodes of Dragons’ Den are available on BBC iPlayer.