The pitch
What walked into the Den
Alpine Cleaning appeared on Dragons' Den in season 3, episode 2, which aired in 2006, pitched by Gary Taylor.
In the pitch, Alpine Cleaning asked the Dragons for £200,000 for 40% of the business, valuing the business at about £500,000.
After the show
What happened next
Alpine Cleaning struck a deal in the Den.
Alpine Cleaning has since wound down.
Our read
The Hub verdict
£200,000 was a bold number for series three, back in 2006 when Den asks tended to run smaller, and Gary Taylor attached it to 40 percent of his franchised lorry-cleaning operation. Run the math and that values Alpine Cleaning at half a million pounds.
Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis backed him, so a bold number attached to a plain-looking category found two of the panel's most commercially minded investors. On the ask alone, releasing 40 percent is a founder betting that a partner's reach beats keeping control, and in a franchised business, where growth means recruiting more operators, reach is precisely what is being bought.
A £200,000 ask for two-fifths, and two Dragons backed it.
