Dragons’ Den star Sarah Willingham talks to ME & MY MONEY

Multimillionaire investor and entrepreneur Sarah Willingham once lived on such a low income that she cried when she realized she had accidentally blown her budget by buying an expensive lettuce.

Sarah, a former Dragon investor on Dragons’ Den, tells Donna Ferguson that she sold her first company for £10 million at the age of 32.

Having made a huge fortune investing in the hospitality industry, the 49-year-old is judging the Extraordinary Entrepreneur award at women’s clothing retailer Pour Moi’s second Uplifting Women Awards.

Nominations are open to the public until April 5 and winners will receive £5,000 cash prizes and £500 Pour Moi vouchers.

Visit pourmoi.co.uk/upliftingwomennominate to nominate yourself or someone else.

What did your parents teach you about money?

To take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves. I still live by that. I hate all waste, be it throwing away food or just frivolous spending. My parents had it pretty rough and come from the working class. My dad was the first person in his town to get A levels. He became a manager at pottery manufacturer Wedgwood – working his way up to being in charge of the supply chain – and my mother was a math teacher. We were a normal suburban family.

Have you ever had trouble making ends meet?

Yes. I went to university in France and then worked in Paris in my early twenties, initially as a translator. At one point I was living on £50 a week, in a flat infested from head to toe with cockroaches.

I remember sobbing when I got home from my supermarket and realized I had bought very fancy lettuce for £1.50 instead of the cheap 20p lettuce. It sounds so stupid, but at the time I couldn’t afford to make such mistakes. That wasn’t the life I wanted and I promised myself that wouldn’t be my story.

How did you make your first million?

When I sold The Bombay Bicycle Club [an Indian restaurant chain]. I sold it for 10 million pounds when I was 32.

I had to sell it. I am very maternal and I knew I wanted a big family. I realized I couldn’t run this big company with hundreds of employees and be a mother. I wanted to be in control of my schedule. I knew I would have to dip in and out of business for a while when my kids were little. And then I started investing.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was 2016, the year I left Dragons’ Den to pick up our four kids from school to travel the world. It was my best financial year, not because of what I made, but because that trip was the best money I ever spent.

We had a budget of £400 a day for the six of us, and that was supposed to cover all flights, accommodation, car hire, insurance and meals.

The kids, who were between five and ten years old at the time, helped us hold on to it.

So they learned that if we stayed somewhere really cheap, we could eat out. But if we want to stay somewhere nice for a week, say in an Airbnb that costs £200 a night, then we cook every night with groceries from the local supermarket. They also learned that a tank of gas costs much less in the US than in Canada.

It was a great financial lesson for them. Not only did they really begin to understand how to manage a budget and the relative value of money, but also the economies of different countries. That was very important to me.

How did you get hit due to the pandemic?

Going into lockdown as an investor in the hospitality industry was an absolute nightmare. One of our investments was a chain of cocktail bars, The Cocktail Club. It was terrifying. But later, during the “eat out to help out” summer, people went crazy. I saw that people are beasts of burden and you can’t lock us up.

Then my husband Michael and I realized we had a unique opportunity.

Hospitality companies had a lot of debt, but their profit and loss accounts were actually strong. We called up the brokers and said, ‘We’re going to take a company public, raise capital and buy a lot of night bars and cocktail bars.’ They said, “You’re barking crazy.” There was no vaccine then. We went against the grain.

But I knew this industry and was confident that it would recover. That summer we successfully started our company Nightcap. We went from zero to £60 million in turnover in two years.

It’s an extraordinary story — and my husband and I own nearly 20 percent of that company.

Are you a materialistic person?

Not at all. I drive a really oversized old Mini. I don’t really have jewelry. I don’t spend a lot of money on clothes or shoes. My jeans cost £40 and I wear Nike sneakers. I have very simple taste.

What was your best investment in Dragon’s Nest?

The Craft Gin Club. I’ve invested £75,000 in the company and it should now be worth £40 to £50 million. I own 12.5 percent of it. There were a few other companies in my first run on the show that I would have loved to have invested in. But the entrepreneurs looking for investment didn’t choose me, they chose Deborah [Meaden] or Peter [Jones].

In my second series it was much better for me because people started to know who I was. For example, all five Dragons competed for the Craft Gin Club and I was the one who got it.

Lead role: Sarah in the BBC’s Dragons’ Den in 2017

Do you think it’s hard being a female entrepreneur?

I think we’ve moved on since the 1990s, which was in my day. But not enough – and no doubt I still live in a very misogynistic world.

So I do everything I can to support women in business. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to participate in the Pour Moi Uplifting Women Awards. They elevate and highlight women who are brilliant.

Do you invest in a pension or in the stock market?

I am doing the basic opt-in for a pension, but my future is my own business ventures, investments and properties.

I invest a little bit in the stock market, but I don’t day trade. The stock market is not where I would bet my next £100,000.

Do you have one property?

Yes, three. Our family home is an 11 bedroom house in Brighton right on the seafront with sea views which we purchased last summer. We also have a lovely little two bedroom garden apartment in Primrose Hill which we bought 20 years ago for £710,000. It is now worth more than £2 million.

My husband is Danish, so we also have a small flat in Copenhagen. I don’t know the finances of that.

That one little luxury you treat yourself to?

I’m an absolute sucker for fancy chocolate from Selfridges and Harrods dining rooms. How can a chocolate cost £2? It’s wrong on so many levels. But when I’ve had a really long day, that’s my little treat.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do first?

I would support small businesses as much as possible.

I would also teach children better about basic finances. I think the education system is failing many of our kids because they don’t come out with an understanding of debt and equity, and the basics of running a household.

What is your first financial priority?

I am driven by freedom and always have been. It is the most important thing to me in every aspect of my life.

Freedom is why I became an entrepreneur in the first place and that’s what drives me to make sure I have money in the bank.