Dragon’s Den for Yorkshire entrepreneur

A Yorkshire entrepreneur made the brave step of entering BBC2’s Dragon’s Den with a very unusual offer.

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Huddersfield-based Applied Language Solutions, went on the show to ask for £250,000 to invest in global expansion, in return for just 4% of the business.

For those unfamiliar with Dragon’s Den, it sees entrepreneurs pitch their ideas with the aim of securing investment from five elite business people, known as the Dragons. The Dragons are well known for their no-nonsense attitude and don’t hold back when it comes to giving brutal criticism.

The Dragons were quick to grill Gavin about his business, which he founded in October 2003 from his back bedroom using his final wage after realising no-one in the translation industry was capitalising on the opportunities offered by technology to provide quicker, cheaper, and improved quality translation services.

On the show, which aired on 28 February, they claimed Gavin had greatly overvalued his company at £6 million. Without realising, Gavin had arrived at this figure based on previous financial earnings before tax.

However, just four months after filming, the company turnover has increased from the £3.2 million Gavin proposed, to £3.7 million, proving that his estimated valuation is achievable.

In the short period of time since filming, Applied Language Solutions has won major contracts worth thousands. Expansion has also been seen in other areas of business with the addition of almost 30 staff to the company’s international team and the introduction of professional face-to-face and instant telephone interpreting to its service portfolio.

Gavin has also stayed true to his pitch as the company is now preparing to open two new offices this month – one in Hong Kong and one in India.

Of his experience, Gavin said: “It was nerve-wracking. They questioned every aspect of the business and my plans for expansion with the use of investment, especially as I was only offering a 4% share in the company. Richard Farleigh was particularly shocked!

“I decided that this was a fair amount to offer as the meteoric growth rate the company has enjoyed since 2003 would see the Dragons receive a huge return on investment. However, they had never come across such a low offer and obviously ripped apart the valuation I had given the company.

“I did try to give as good as I got with the Dragons and justify my request. I managed to negotiate with them for about 90 minutes. My mouth felt like the Sahara Desert by the time we had finished!”

Despite not securing investment, one of the Dragons made their high hopes for success of both Gavin and the business clear, and offered to be a non-executive chairman at no cost to the company.

A delighted Gavin said: “This means we will have access to a very successful entrepreneur’s advice, knowledge and experience. I have already been in talks with the Dragon’s camp and we are in the process of finalising a meeting for when we are both available and in the same country!”

Gavin’s success is the all the more remarkable considering he himself is unable to speak any foreign languages. However, due to his hard work and determination he runs a successful translation and interpretation company that provides professional translation and interpretation in over 150 languages, has six offices worldwide and a 60-strong team serving names such as Nike and Robbie Williams.

For more information, visit the Applied Language Solutions website.