Two pet food entrepreneurs who appeared on Dragons’ Den last month have chosen to exhibit at PATS Telford.
Husband-and-wife team Jack Walker and Aneisha Soobroyen, who founded the dog and cat food brand Scrumbles a year ago, were invited onto the hit BBC2 show after researchers heard them on Radio Leicester.
The duo were angling for cash from animal-loving Dragon Deborah Meaden. She was very interested in what they had to say, but demanded a 20% share of the business in return for investing £60,000.
In the end the savvy duo turned the offer down – much to the surprise of viewers and of Aneisha, who thought her husband was going to accept it!
Mr Walker said: “We are big admirers of Deborah and have no doubt she would add a huge amount of value to the company, but the deal wasn’t right for us and our supporters on the day.
“It was edited to look like Aneisha and I didn’t agree, but that was all for TV. It was certainly entertaining.”
He added: “We attended PATS Telford when we first launched, and visited Sandown, as we always like to keep ahead of the latest trends and innovations in the industry.
“We decided to exhibit at PATS this year as it’s the best way to reach the hundreds of fantastic independent businesses that make up the backbone of the pet industry. As a team of two, we can’t always reach as many customers as we’d wish on the road or on the phone, and PATS brings everybody under one roof.”
PATS Telford takes place at The Telford International Centre on September 22-23.