'Couple of Geordie grafters' nab £50k Dragons’ Den investment

The founders of North East protein snack business Oatein delivered a winning pitch on Dragons’ Den last night to secure a five-figure investment.

Andy Dixon and John Paul Gardner nabbed £50k from Peter Jones in return for a 20% share of the business.

Mr Jones and fellow Dragon Tej Lalvani had earlier offered the full £50k for a 25% stake, while Touker Suleyman sought to beat them to it with the same investment for 20%.

But the co-founders of Oatein ended up wrangling a deal with Mr Jones – their target investor coming into the show.

John Paul Gardner said of the experience: “We’re still in shock. We’ve been watching the episodes air and it dawned on us that we didn’t even celebrate when we secured the offer because we were so stunned.

“Before going onto Dragons Den, our aim was always to secure an offer from Peter Jones. Our products are designed, manufactured and packaged in the UK but it has always been the hardest market for us to penetrate.”

He continued: “We would love to see Oatein on the shelves of a major supermarket. We felt Peter was the right investor to help make this happen and his enthusiasm for the products and brand made it a no brainer for us.”

Andy and John Paul, whom Dragon Jenny Campbell called “a couple of Geordie grafters”, first met in the boxing ring.

They launched the Oatein brand in 2015 and have since sold over 2.5million bars, flapjacks and cookies through supermarkets, pharmacies and health outlets in 55 countries.

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