Ex Student, who slayed the Dragons shares his experiences

Successful Businessman Paul Ward, who turned down the Dragons in the BBC show Dragons Den, spoke to the Business students at Cronton Sixth Form College about his experiences on the show and the successes of his chemical cleaning business.

Paul, an ex Student of the college and the Co founder of Paragon PE Ltd was offered £100,000 by James Caan, one of the Dragons on the TV show but turned him down because he was asking for too much equity for his investment.

Paul Ward said, ‘It was nice to be asked to come back to the college to talk to the students, they were all very well informed about all areas of business but they asked lots of questions about how to develop an idea into a successful business and I was happy to provide them with lots of ideas.  They were all really interested to hear about what happened during my time filming Dragons Den.’

Joanne Martin, Head of Business at Cronton Sixth Form invited Paul to come in a talk to the students, she said, ‘We believe it is important for our students to hear about real situations and what it takes to succeed in business.  The students had an opportunity to listen to Paul talk about the time he spent on Dragons Den and also about the challenges and issues which he faced in creating a successful business. The talk has definitely inspired many of our students to become future entrepreneurs’.

Claire Colligan, a Business Tutor commented, ‘the students were fascinated by the fact that an ex student had the confidence to turn down a Dragon, even after he came to offer him funds a second time.  His entrepreneurial spirit was inspiring and made the students realise that they can achieve anything if they work hard and are determined.  We are very grateful to Paul for taking the time to spend with the students and giving them the benefit of his experience’.