Read the complete write-up of Deborah Meaden net worth, age, husband, children, height, family, parents, companies as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Deborah Meaden is a British businesswoman and TV personality who ran a multimillion-pound family holiday business, before completing a management buyout, but is now best known for her appearances on the BBC Two business programme Dragons’ Den.
Early life
| Name | Deborah Meaden |
| Net Worth | $65 million |
| Profession | Businesswoman, TV personality |
| Height | 1.68m |
| Age | 63 years |
Deborah Sonia Meaden was born on February 11, 1959 (age 63 years) in Taunton, Somerset, United Kingdom. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother Sonia moved Deborah and her older sister Gail Meaden to Brightlingsea in Essex. Meaden went to the Godolphin School, Salisbury, for a brief period and then to Trowbridge High School for Girls (now The John of Gaunt School) which she left at the age of 16. She has other two sisters Cass Meaden and Emma Meaden.
She is an atheist. Meaden has listed her favourite film like The Shawshank Redemption, her favourite holiday destination as Central/South America and her favourite sport as rugby union. In October 2020, Meaden adopted a plant-based diet.
Career
Deborah Meaden studied business at Brighton Technical College, after which she worked as a sales-room model in a fashion house. After graduation, she moved to Italy at 19 and set up a glass and ceramics export agency, which sold products to retailers including Harvey Nichols. The company failed after 18 months.
Meaden and a partner bought one of the first Stefanel textile franchises in the UK, which was based in the West Country; she sold out two years later to her partner for £10,000. She then had several successful leisure and retail businesses, including a spell operating a Prize Bingo at Butlins in Minehead.
In 1988, Meaden joined her family’s business to run its amusement arcade operations and in 1992, joined Weststar Holidays, a family holiday park operator based in Exeter, Devon, with its major sites in South West England.
She led a management buyout and acquired the majority shareholding in 1999. By the time she sold the company six years later, Weststar was providing holidays for more than 150,000 people each year with an EBITDA in excess of £11m. In 2005, she made a partial exit when Weststar was sold in a deal worth £33 million to Phoenix Equity Partners, and, in August 2007, her remaining stake of 23% in Weststar Holidays was liquidated when the firm was sold to Alchemy Partners for £83m, valuing her stake at about £19m.
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In 2009, Meaden acquired Fox Brothers – a West Country textile mill established in 1772 and still based in Wellington, Somerset – along with fellow shareholder, Douglas Cordeaux, former design director at Pepe Jeans London.
Deborah Meaden was also involved in a collaboration with BBC conductor Charles Hazlewood, ‘Play the Field’, a weekend of classical music on Charles’s farm in Somerset over the August bank holiday weekend 2009. In October 2011, Meaden launched ‘The Merchant Fox’, an online store selling British-made luxury goods with provenance.
In 2009, a planning inspector criticised Meaden’s evidence to his enquiry as “implausible” in a dispute over the granting of village green status to a field on which Mudstone LLP, a firm in which she is a partner, wished to build 48 homes.
TV Shows
Deborah Meaden is known for her appearances as an investor (‘dragon’) on the BBC Two series Dragons’ Den, where she took over from Rachel Elnaugh in the third series in August 2006. Like Elnaugh, Meaden was the only female investor, although this changed in subsequent seasons with the arrival of Hilary Devey to replace James Caan. As of 2021, she has agreed on investments through this route in 63 businesses to the value of over £3.3m.
Meaden took part in the eleventh series of the BBC One dancing show Strictly Come Dancing, which began on 7 September 2013 and was partnered with professional dancer Robin Windsor. She was eliminated from the show on 26 October.
Books: Meaden published Common Sense Rules (Random House) in the UK in May 2009. She used a ghostwriting service known as Professional Ghost to complete this project.
Other work
In November 2009, Meaden featured in a short film to promote Somerset to businesses, commissioned by Into Somerset, having previously recorded two other short films for the inward investment agency in February 2009.
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Meaden is a member of the Council of Ambassadors of the World Wildlife Fund. She does a lot of work with the Dogs Trust charity and is an ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society.
Honours
In July 2010, Deborah Meaden was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Exeter Business School. She also received an honorary degree from Staffordshire University in the same month. She was given an honorary degree at Keele University in July 2013. In July 2014, Meaden was awarded an honorary degree from Bath Spa University.
Husband
Deborah Meaden is married to her longtime boyfriend Paul Meaden, they had their wedding in 1993. She met her husband Paul in summer 1985, while he worked at Weststar during his university break. They separated, but after she took a trip to Venezuela, she returned to London and they married in 1993. The couple has no children.
House
Deborah Meaden and her husband Paul Meaden live in a period property near Langport in Somerset with numerous animals. She bought the property in 2006 after selling her Weststar Holidays business for £33m. Since then, the house has undergone extensive renovations using period-accurate materials.
Deborah Meaden net worth
How much is Deborah Meaden worth? Deborah Meaden net worth is estimated at around $65 million. Her main source of income is from her career as a businesswoman. Meaden successful career has earned her some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy cars trips. She is one of the richest and influential people in the United Kingdom.