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‘Dragons’ Den’ Stars Sarah Willingham And Nick Jenkins Quit BBC Business Show

They've uttered 'I'm out' for the final time.
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By 

Head of Entertainment, HuffPost UK

The BBC are on the search for two leading entrepreneurs after Sarah Willingham and Nick Jenkins announced they are quitting ‘Dragons’ Den’.

The pair have confirmed they will be leaving after the current run, with their last ever shows going out on BBC Two on 26 February.

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The Dragons (L-R): Sarah Willingham, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden, Nick Jenkins and Peter Jones.
BBC

Sarah, who made her fortune with The Bombay Bicycle Club restaurant chain, and Nick, who is the founder of Moonpig.com, joined the show in 2015.

The other Dragons - Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman - are all believed to be staying on for the next series.

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Sarah Willingham
BBC

Speaking about her departure, Sarah said: “Being part of Dragons’ Den has been one of the best experiences of my life.

“At the end of last year my husband Michael and I decided to finally put into action our long-held dream to spend a year travelling the world with our young children.

“Sadly this means that I’ve had to step down from my role as a Dragon. It’s been a great privilege to be part of such a fantastic show and I wish everyone on it continued success.”

Meanwhile, Nick Jenkins said he wanted to focus more time on his various businesses.

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BBC

He said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed making Dragons’ Den but I want to focus more on my portfolio of educational technology businesses and that would make it difficult to take on any more investments from the Den.”

Patrick Holland, channel editor at BBC Two, said: “Nick and Sarah have both been terrific Dragons, using their nous and insight to make some great investments and produce some compelling entertainment in the process.

“As they step down from the show I want to thank them and wish them all the very best for the future.”

10 apps that'll make your next business trip the best yet
Do away with laborious expense paperwork(01 of10)
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Instead of spending an hour at the end of each day sorting and filing receipts and filling in claims forms, knock this down to five minutes with the Concur app. It enables you to record expenses instantly, photograph receipts on the go, log credit card charges and keep track of your itinerary. All your expenses can then be quickly audited and approved by the finance team back home. Pricing model available on request. (credit:Elena Kolchina via Getty Images)
Stay on top of the itinerary(02 of10)
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When you’re dashing from one place to the next across a city, a country, a continent; or even the world, you need to know where you have to be and when, which is where TripIt comes in. Acting like your very own PA, it’s where you can aggregate all your confirmation emails and create a master itinerary. Whilst the basic version is free, TripIt Pro makes things easier still by alerting you to flight delays, cancellations and gate changes. It also notifies you when you’re eligible for a flight refund and finds you alternate flights. (credit:anyaberkut via Getty Images)
Be current with currency(03 of10)
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International business discussions often refer to dollars and euros when it comes to talking money or perhaps all trade is done in the local currency. The free XE Currency app helps you to instantly calculate currency values on the go using live exchange rates. An invaluable tool when it comes to negotiating big money deals. (credit:Gumpanat via Getty Images)
Let your luggage go it alone(04 of10)
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Get your luggage delivered where and when you need it with the Dufl app. After registration you will receive a Dufl suitcase which you pack with clothes you wear whilst travelling. The packed case is taken to the Dufl storage facility where your clothes are cleaned and photographed. Once you’ve scheduled a trip you use the app to select the stored clothes you want to take with you, these are packed and then sent to you at your specified destination. (credit:Peshkova via Getty Images)
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If you’re looking to get around your own or a foreign city by foot, public transport or bike, City Mapper is the app to download. It will seek out the most efficient route and update it in real time should something occur that would disrupt the original journey. It currently covers 36 cities worldwide, including Tokyo, Sydney and Madrid and is free to download. (credit:Gary Conner via Getty Images)
Enjoy your downtime(06 of10)
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If you’ve managed to bag an afternoon or evening off to explore your destination, plug into the Time Out Reach For Your City app. It will show you where to eat, drink and what to explore, as well as information on gigs, plays and shows going on around you. (credit:Graham Crouch via Getty Images)
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It’s just as important to tone your mind as it is your body and when you’re tired and suffering from the effects of jet lag, it’s easy to let your concentration slide. A regular session of brain training games on the Lumosity app should challenge and hone your cognitive skills and help you to remain ahead of the competition. As an added bonus, it’s a lot of fun too. (credit:laflor via Getty Images)
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Type in the words you can’t understand and providing they’re from one of the 103 languages that the Google Translate app works with, it will tell you what it means instantly. Or you can take a photo of the words you need translating and it will translate the text into one of 29 languages. (credit:Matteo Colombo via Getty Images)
Get with the lingo(09 of10)
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If business is regularly taking you to one particular foreign clime and you still have no grasp of their language, you could find yourself starting to understand and being able to make yourself known in the local tongue after just a few sessions with Babbel. Spanish, Russian and Norwegian are some of the 13 languages you could get to grips with using its mix of speech recognition, translation and memory games. Subscriptons start from £4.45 per month. (credit:Shannon Fagan via Getty Images)
And breathe(10 of10)
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If all too frequently, you find yourself lying in a hotel bed exhausted, but unable to sleep because you can’t stop thinking about the meeting earlier or the conference the next day, you need to learn how to relax. Mindfulness and meditation are the most effective tools you can employ to achieve this. The Calm app is a ‘meditation teacher in your pocket’, explains creator Michael Acton Smith of Moshi Monsters fame. ‘We used an amazing meditation teacher to create the content. The free section introduces you to meditation and deeper paid-for content helps with specific issues, such as insomnia.’ Five million downloads so far is testimony to its success. Subscriptions start from £2.50 a month. (credit:bilderlounge via Getty Images)
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