Insider Media Limited

Dragons' Den entrepreneur Peter Hart is aiming to grow his fancy dress business into a franchise of 20 shops in the next two years. Speaking to Insider, Hart said his Coventry-based Fun Fancy Dress business – which secured a £100,000 investment from Dragon Duncan Bannatyne – would be targeting university cities, and had already received interest from a company in the US.

Hart entered the den with his wife Michelle and five children to secure investment for their company. The pair want to roll-out their business model through franchise operations across the UK.

Founder Hart, who left school aged 15 with no qualifications, secured £100,000 from leisure tycoon Duncan Bannatyne for a 50 per cent stake in the business.

He said that over the next two years, Fun Fancy Dress aim to have between ten and 20 franchise stores in the UK.

"We think we have a very strong business model, with good figures. We'll be aiming to open up in the main university towns and cities, as I think there's a lot of business to be had there. We've already received interest from a major US company, so hopefully something big will come from that," he said.

Hart described the experience in the Dragons' Den as "like no other – it was very surreal".

"I liken it to your wedding day – there's this huge anticipation before the big day, then suddenly you're there, at the bottom of those stairs waiting to go in and face the music," he said.

He said that despite only being shown on the BBC programme for ten minutes, the family was negotiating in the den for almost an hour-and-a-half.

"I could tell immediately that Deborah [Meaden] and Theo [Paphitis] weren't interested in the concept – and they became more aggressively against the proposal as we went on. But Duncan comes from a similar place, and I think he could really see where we wanted to take the business.

"I think we'd have continued making the business a big success without his investment, but having him on board can only do good things for the company."

Hart revealed that he had also been in talks with the previous successful Dragons' Den entrepreneur behind theatre group Razzamataz. Bannatyne invested in the Cumbria business four years ago, helping it become an international brand.

"We have spoken to Razzamataz online – I think there are definitely opportunities for us to work on some projects together and help each other out. We'll just have to see what happens in the future", said Hart.

Fun Fancy Dress is headquartered in Poole with a second base in Coventry.

Image: Photographer: Todd Antony; image copyright of the BBC