Elnaugh ousted from Red Letter Days
Female Dragon leaves the den after 16 years at the helm of the gift experience business she founded
The founder of the newly purchased gift experience company Red Letter Days
has been ousted from the business by Peter Jones, her fellow panelist on the
BBC2 reality talent show Dragons’ Den.
A spokesman for AIC, the 50-50 joint venture between Jones and Theo Paphitis,
former Millwall football club chairman, told The Times that Rachel
Elnaugh would no longer be working with the business and a new chief executive
would be sought once the company had been made financially stable.
The 39-year-old Elnaugh, a former accountant and tax consultant with Arthur
Andersen, started the company 16 years ago, however, the business went into
administration this Monday with debts of about £12m – just days after she gave
birth to her fourth child.
A joint statement by Jones and Paphitis said they had ‘worked tirelessly’ all
weekend and late on Monday night to find ways of completing a rescue package for
RLD.
Both serial entrepreneurs purchased the assets and goodwill of the company,
claiming that it was ‘great news’ for customers and the RLD brand. They also
said the buyout would also safeguard’s the company’s 130-plus employees.
The statement added that Jones and Paphitis had ‘already committed to honour
all RLD experiences that had been purchased directly from the company through
Visa and Mastercard’.
It said that discussions would take place with all its suppliers over the
next few days in order that ‘direct working relationships could be
re-established’ and that individuals with current vouchers could rebook and
‘enjoy the experiences they had purchased’.