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Brixtonite Levi Roots is looking for the next big food entrepreneur in London

The Reggae Reggae Sauce entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den luminary Levi Roots has teamed up with Westfield shopping centre to hunt for the next big food entrepreneur in the capital.

Partnering with the shopping centre operator, Roots is inviting restaurateurs and other food entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to a panel of experts that includes the Reggae Reggae inventor alongside Westfield Chief Marketing Officer Myf Ryan and other industry experts.

The winner will receive personal mentoring from Roots as well as an undisclosed amount of funding to help them get their business idea off the ground.

Myf Ryan said: “We understand the importance of supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and encouraging young people in the local community to pursue their dreams.

“Being able to partner with someone as enigmatic and inspirational as Levi is very exciting and we have no doubt the competition will attract some fantastic ideas from across London’s budding business start ups.”

Roots commented: “10 years on from Dragon’s Den, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t value the opportunity I was given to take my idea to the world, and want in turn to be able to give a fellow Londoner with a good idea a platform from which to inspire us all.

“The beauty of food is that it is always evolving, and I look forward to discovering the next big thing with Westfield this June.”

The pairing comes after the entrepreneur opened his first-ever standalone restaurant, Levi Roots Caribbean Smokehouse, in Westfield Stratford City back in 2015 and falls on the tenth anniversary of his famous appearance on the BBC programme.

Entries for the programme will close on 2 June with ten finalists set to be selected to pitch.

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