Success for Sharon in Dragon's Den

SCUNTHORPE’S Sharon Wright stunned the judges on Dragons’ Den – and is now aiming to be a millionaire by the end of the year.

The 39-year-old single mother, who has invented a device to thread cables through cavity walls, was pitching on the BBC programme for investment in her business.

And the Dragons, who are known for grilling hopeful entrepreneurs and some dismissive comments about their pitches, all wanted to invest.

Sharon said: "I was told by the BBC and the Dragons that for the first time in the seven-year history of the programme they had to go to the back of the room and discuss among themselves which of them was going to get the chance to invest."

Dragon Peter Jones told Sharon: "I think you have done amazingly well."

His colleague Deborah Meaden’s verdict on Sharon was: "She’s brilliant."

Sharon went on to Dragons’ Den asking for £50,000 in exchange for a 15 per cent share of the company.

She said: "All five Dragons told me I did not need the money and I was more than capable of doing it on my own."

But she added: "I agreed it was never about the money but about having the mentor and support behind me."

In the end two Dragons – Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan – between them took a 22-and-a-half per cent share in exchange for £80,000.

Sharon, who lives with her 13-year-old daughter Molly on the new housing estate near Morrisons, said: "I have the support from the infrastructure of their own businesses to drive the success of the product."

Already she is achieving major deals for the MagnaMole product for her Queensway Business Centre based Talpa Products company.

She said: "I’m aiming to be a millionaire by the end of this year."

The MagnaMole works using magnetic attraction. After a hole is drilled in a wall a magnetic rod is inserted. Then a cap is screwed on to the end of the cable or wire which is to go through the cavity from the other side. When the cable is then inserted magnetism connects it with the rod, allowing it to be simply pulled through.

The product retails at between £12.99 and £24.99. It is sold in electrical distribution outlets and will soon appear in DIY outlets.

Sharon said that beforehand she had thought it was an even chance whether the Dragons would like the product or ‘rip it to shreds’.

But she added: "They loved the simplicity and they know it’s a generic problem it tackles. They said what I have achieved is unbelievable and in the timescale I have done it but that I needed the confidence and that is exactly what they would give me."

She said the publicity and product awareness resulting from the Dragons’ Den appearance would be ‘priceless’ as she moved forward.

She added: "I have three or four other inventions, but until I have seen this one through to the end I’m keeping them under wraps."