Deborah Meaden, the entrepreneur best known for her role as a potential financial backer of start-up businesses on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, has bought a controlling stake in Fox Brothers, an old-established Somerset textile company that provides wool and worsted cloth to Savile Row.
Ms Meaden took a minority stake in the company last summer but she and Douglas Cordeaux, the creative director at Pepe Jeans, have now signed a deal that gives them complete ownership of the business.
Ms Meaden declined to comment on the value of the deal, but said that she had taken an 80 per cent share, with Mr Cordeaux owning the remainder.
Boasting clients such as Gieves & Hawkes, the top-drawer tailor, and Ralph Lauren, the celebrated designer, Fox Brothers was the original creator of flannel cloth for suits.
The company, which was established in 1772, flourished during the Industrial Revolution and is now one of the few surviving cloth mills in Britain after the outsourcing of weaving to the Far East.
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Ms Meaden said: “I originally got involved in the business as an investor as, like many firms in this climate, it was struggling to find funds and its banks were changing their terms.
“So I took a minority stake, with an option to acquire the business over a period of years. It soon became obvious that it was the right thing for the business for me to do that sooner than expected.”
Ms Meaden now has her sights set on reviving Fox’s fortunes, consolidating its position in its key markets of Japan, Italy and Britain, and extending its footprint to the United States, where, she said, there is a “huge amount” of interest from buyers.
In Britain, Ms Meaden believed that Fox Brothers is uniquely positioned to capitalise on a consumer trend towards high-quality cloth that has been produced in the UK.
Ms Meaden admitted that there was also a personal reason for her investment in the company, which is based ten miles from her home and is entrenched in the local culture.
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The multimillionaire already has experience working in the fashion and textiles industries. One of her earliest business ventures was the first UK franchise of Stefanel, the Italian fashion brand. She later sold the franchise to her partner for £10,000 — a sum which she described as “a fortune to me at the time”.
In 1988 she joined her parents’ amusement arcade business, before moving over to Weststar Holidays, its holiday park. She eventually sold the company for £33 million, but retained a 23 per cent stake, which she sold two years ago for £21 million.
Her Dragons’ Den investments have ranged from waste management and recycling companies to a “make your own doll” business called Youdoodoll.
However, Ms Meaden’s luck ran out with her investment in JPM Eco Logistics, a green haulage business that has since collapsed.