Dragons' Den entrepreneur suffers flood disaster

SCUNTHORPE Dragons’ Den star Sharon Wright has been hit by a disaster that could mean the loss of orders running into millions of pounds.

Heavy rain in the town over Tuesday night resulted in flooding in part of the Queensway Business Centre, where Sharon has her office.

Sharon Wright, of Talpa Products, surveys the damage in her offices after the ceiling collapsed following heavy rain, flooding the office
Sharon Wright with Dragons' Den's Duncan Bannatyne, left, and James Caan

She said water burst through the roof, adding: "We came in at 8.30 in the morning to destruction."

Sharon, who thrilled the Dragons on the BBC programme and has been winning global interest in her MagnaMole cable threading invention, said there were two inches of water on the floor of her office and she had been the worst hit.

She said there had been documents all over the floor in neat piles,

organised into priorities. But these were destroyed and she said: "I’m absolutely gutted."

All the paperwork followed a 16-day trip to America last month when Sharon took part in exhibitions in Atlanta and Minneapolis.

She said: "I had huge interest from people who gave me their details just in paper form.

"All of them have now been lost – and we are talking about 200 to 300 companies, including major bluechips.

"A lot of the companies I can’t contact and they don’t know where I am."

She contacted Duncan Bannatyne, one of the Dragons who has invested in her business. She said he told her: "It will test the character and the strength you have got and you will get through it."

He also told her to take legal advice on the potential loss of business.

Sharon added: "This is just another one of those things that makes me even more determined. I have come too far to give up."

She thinks the orders lost could amount to anything from 500,000 to five million MagnaMole units – and they sell for up to £25 a unit.

But in November Sharon returns to America to discuss a deal in Texas for 250,000 units and a 10,000 unit order leaves for Canada today. She is also awaiting confirmation on an order for the Middle East for up to 50,000 units.

She said the landlord of the centre had been very good, putting any businesses affected into alternative offices and contacting Amcotts-Allkare Scunthorpe Ltd responded immediately and has been busy stripping out damage and drying the units out prior to reinstatement.

She said they had been "absolutely superb" while Norman Richardson, who runs Allkare locally, said Speedy Hire in Scunthorpe responded swiftly to provide the gear for drying out.

Chris Guyver, stockbroker and financial adviser at Edward Jones Ltd at the centre, said their unit had been badly hit, adding: "I have lost probably two days of meaningful work, but we have not lost any important documentation."

He added: "We can’t fault the landlords. They responded extremely quickly."

Jonathan Beever, director of landlord Brisbane House Ltd, which is based in Cheshire, said: "It was down to a freak downpour of rain and we are assisting the tenants as best we can to minimise any disruption to their business.

"It’s a great business community and everyone is rallying round to try to help those affected. We are throwing in all the resources we have and the businesses will be back up and running very swiftly."