Dragons' Den food entrepreneurs turn down Tej Lalvani and go solo in bid to hit £2m turnover

Following its appearance on Dragons’ Den and rejected offers, The Great British Porridge Co has now decided to turn down investment from Tej Lalvani.

Jacqueline Barleycorn and Matt Hunt appeared on Dragons’ Den on August 18, and received offers from all five Dragons and accepted an offer of £60k for 22 per cent of the business from Tej Lalvani.

Now, the pair have made the decision to go it alone and grow the business through outside investment.

Matt Hunt, business partner and founder of The Protein Ball Co, explained: “Meeting Tej Lalvani was one of the highlights of my life, but ultimately we found the investment agreement very restrictive.

“Through my background with The Protein Ball Co, we feel we can harness new investment opportunities on our own that will help us turn The Great British Porridge Co into a global business.”

Since appearing on the BBC primetime show, the brand has received thousands of orders. Matt added: “We’ve received around 4,000 orders through the website since the show aired, amounting to a value of around £50k for the business and that doesn’t include the sky-high retail sales!”

The brand has also taken on five more wholesalers and is receiving interest from retailers and outside investors.

With new product development on the way, the company is expecting a turnover of £2m at the end of this year.