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Dragons' Den Reject Who 'Turned Down £90m' Is Forced To Sell House And Car

Dragons' Den Reject Who 'Turned Down £90m' Is Forced To Sell House And Car

"I’ve even started selling cheap raw meat to get customers back."

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Dragons' Den can be a tough environment for a budding businessperson - they didn't call it Dragons' Den for nothing - and plenty of people leave without anything at all.

Marco Hijikypri did so and, according to reports today, it hasn't turned out too well for him after his appearance on the BBC - despite previously claiming that he had been offered £90 million ($118m) and rejected for his company.

The Birmingham businessman has now been forced to sell his house and his flash £50,000 ($65,000) Audi car to keep his company afloat as customers deserted him - turned off, he says, by his brash attitude.

Marco appeared on last year's series of the show with his firm, Pro Gains, a healthy meals delivery service that he valued at £2 million.

He had a falling out with Dragon Deborah Meaden about the valuation of the company and ended up leaving empty-handed, but the idea appeared to take off without any illustrious investors.

In fact, Marco was doing so well at one point that he was selling 7,000 meals a week all over Birmingham and the West Midlands from his warehouse in West Bromwich, with 20 people working for him.

But just a few months later, the Mirror reports that Marco has sold his house and car to keep Pro Gains going.

"I wish I had taken a tenth of that offer now. I've had hate mail, it's been awful," he told the paper."

Credit: Birmingham Mail

"Since I went public with my offer, my business has been massively affected. I've had lots of abuse from people thinking I'm money-grabbing and arrogant, and a lot of customers have stopped buying my product.

"Sales are down by 80 per cent and I've had to sell my house and my car. I've even started selling cheap raw meat to get customers back and get my cash flow going."

"I'm really gutted. I'm driving a Smart car but it's not a joke. I think I have been portrayed by some media outlets as a money grabber, which is not true because I'm all about giving back. Last year I donated £4,000 worth of food to the homeless."

"I thought my offer was something to be proud of after Dragons' Den, but people thought I came across as arrogant. I've been misperceived, I've worked really hard and slept in my car to get my business off the ground."

"I'm not going to give up though, my goal and vision are still the same and I will keep working."

Featured Image Credit: Birmingham Mail

Topics: UK News, Business, BBC