In January 2007 Razzamataz Theatre Schools founder
and principal took part in BBC TV's Dragons
Den.
Denise was invited on to meet the Dragons with four
children, one of whom had written and produced our very own "Razzamataz
Jingle", Miss Myrren Porter (the grand old age of 8 when she wrote the
jingle!), from Paisley. The Razzamataz Jingle was performed for the
"Dragons", and Denise launched into her 2 min "pitch" to
persuade the dragons to invest in the franchise business of Razzamataz.
Denise founded Razzamataz Theatre Schools in Cumbria
in 2000, opening in several locations in the North of England and Scotland and
decided to franchise the business at the end of 2005, due to the huge demand -
and only one of her!
In 2006, Razzamataz Glasgow, Edinburgh and Penrith
were launched, with Derby launching February 2007, followed by many more
schools since! - see our schools page for schools throughout the UK.
This is Denise's account of the encounter,
"After what felt like an eternity in the Den (about 25 mins!), most of the
Dragons declared themselves 'out', until a very quiet Duncan Bannatyne decided
that Razzamataz was 'under selling' itself and he offered the full investment -
if I still wanted it! - of course I jumped at this once in a lifetime
opportunity and we shook hands on the deal!"
Denise went onto add, "Duncan
met myself and the kids after filming and was very nice (and human!), warm and
friendly to us all. It was a fantastic experience for the kids and we are all
so pleased at the outcome!"
Duncan has been a huge support
to the business, his advice and expertise has taken it to a new level.
We work
with his financial team as well as other contacts such as our marketing and
merchandising.
Our partnership with TUI also,
has been a huge development for the Company.
The Razzamataz kids are going to
hugely benefit from this, as it will raise the profile of the business, which
means more producers, casting directors and agents will be contacting
Razzamataz for opportunities for the kids - the future for Razzamataz kids looks bright!
Watch Denise on the
Dragons' Den 'Where are they now' follow up show
.