Dragons' Den: Harrogate tea entrepreneur hits screens again in '˜best of' show

A Harrogate entrepreneur who pitched to BBC TV's Dragon's Den programme and walked away with a deal has made a retun trip to the small screen, appearing in a BBC2 '˜best of' special.
TV dragon Tej Lalvani and TEA+ entrepreneur James Dawson. (S)TV dragon Tej Lalvani and TEA+ entrepreneur James Dawson. (S)
TV dragon Tej Lalvani and TEA+ entrepreneur James Dawson. (S)

James Dawson presented his TEA+ Vitamin Infused Teas to the ‘dragons’ and won significant investment from Vitabiotics CEO Tej Lalvani, who later negotiated a distribution with national retailer Boots.

He appeared on Sunday night in a one-off show hosted by Steph McGovern which revisited memorable entrepreneurs from the last 16 series of Dragons’ Den.

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“It was great to feature in a follow-up to the original Dragons Den showing with Tej Lalvani,” said Mr Dawson.

“Our business has accelerated significantly since Dragons’ Den and was great for the BBC to be able to capture this with the revealing of our nationwide launch into Boots stores in January.”

Since TEA+ appeared on Dragon’s Den in February, the brand has relaunched with a brand-new look and a partnership with Mr Lalvani’s Vitabiotics, the UK’s number-one vitamin manufacturer.

Mr Dawson launched TEA+ with wife Jade in 2016 when they left behind successful careers in Dubai to return to his hometown of Harrogate to start the business.

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TEA+ quickly saw success, winning multiple start-up business awards with their industry first range of vitamin-infused teas.

The company launched to capitalise on the changing culture of tea-drinking in the UK as black tea sales fall and growth continues in the green and herbal sectors.

The vitamin teas are already available in over 800 stores nationwide, including Holland & Barrett, Ocado, Whole Foods and independent health food stores.

The new partnership between TEA+ and Vitabiotics plan to roll this out to Boots and more retailers in the UK and internationally in the next 12 months.