by Chris Harris
Catherine Brown was a very confident person on the face of it. A fractured upbringing and fifteen years spent as a cleaner kept on attacking that confidence as she battled within herself, why am I, a former cleaner, going on Dragon’s Den to humiliate myself? But everyone around her pleaded with her to realise she had a successful business and was pivotal to the astonishing success of Denham Phoenix FC.
“After all, every contestant, unless they are a narcissist, would be nervous and have misgivings”, Big Mal tried to reassure her.
It was the talk of the village and the football club. As the day drew nearer and the good-luck messages from customers at her shop and the football club cheered her up, so did her spirit rise. She still had her moments, but now far more positive than negative.
Greg tried to boost her confidence as much as he could in the Green Room, talking steadily while Catherine sat having her makeup done, staring ahead and barely taking any of it in. It felt strangely calm, almost as if the contestants were all trying to hide their own secret worst case scenario fears.
The producer and director came in to give them a well-rehearsed pep talk to lighten the mood before the presenter, Aiden Prince and the Dragons arrived to introduce themselves and press the flesh. Catherine had been told this would happen, and while she was nervous about meeting these well-known faces, she was so consumed by her pitch that, paradoxically, meeting them actually relaxed her slightly. They were just human beings after all.
She was the last contestant. The five Dragons had already been difficult, picking apart earlier pitches with their normal ruthless efficiency. Catherine felt the vibes were wrong; an air of negativity hung over the studio. This relaxed her more; she was convinced she had no chance of an investment and knew she’d make a better fist of her presentation than the others and at least if she could crack that, she could hold her head up high.
“So, Catherine, how did your first shop come about?” The usual preliminary questions came forth.
She melted the viewers’ hearts as she told them about the fifteen years of cleaning work, raising two boys alone, and how the death of her landlady and confidant had forced her into taking a risk. A small inheritance and a business opportunity, where she created a thriving coffee shop. Gordon Freedman nodded slowly, watching not just what she said but how she said it, while Emily Parker sat forward, interested but guarded.. They were the two dragons that were the first that night to show any real interest in any of the pitches. Catherine picked up on this and it gave her more confidence.
She spoke about the struggles at the start, how she found her feet, and how she had turned the original shop into a success before opening the second at the garden centre. It was going well.
Gordon Freedman asked her, ” What’s your turnover?
Her mind went blank.
She knew it. Of course, she knew it. But it wouldn’t come.
“The gross profit is £65,000 a year, and it was shaping up to be the same at the garden centre.”
Gordon paused.
“Wait, wait… so you don’t actually know what your turnover is.”
“I do… my head’s just gone blank, sorry.”
Gordon leaned back slightly. “That’s not really good enough, Catherine. if you’re running a business, that should trip off your tongue.”
The shift in the room was immediate, the warmth draining out of it as the focus moved from her story to her competence.
“And when you say you were making £65,000 in the garden centre, what happened there?”
Catherine hesitated. “I… fell out with the owner. We were in a relationship. It ended slightly acrimoniously. I moved the shop across the road to a football club.”
“And you’ve got the figures to back up that it works better there?”
“Well… I don’t think it makes quite as much. I’m a director of the club, so I just take a percentage of turnover.”
Gordon nodded slowly. “Right. So what you’re saying is, you’ve got a coffee shop in Denham. The profit is excellent. You don’t know your turnover. You set up another shop because the owner was your boyfriend, which is never a good move. You split up, you move across the road at the first opportunity, and now you’ve got a second shop that doesn’t make much money.”
He paused.
“You’re not inspiring confidence in me, Catherine.”
Catherine felt the heat rise. “Surely what matters is what the first shop does. I’m asking for £50,000 to open two more shops, one in Lewes and one in another village. They’ll be successful like Denham. I don’t understand why you’re picking me apart.”
Her voice wobbled slightly, and she knew it, which only made it worse.
The camera focused on her, as she challenged Gordon, sensing some drama.
Gordon didn’t soften. “I’m picking you apart because I’m questioning your business acumen. I admire your tenacity. You’ve clearly built something. But expanding is where most businesses fail. And I don’t think you’re equipped for that.”
“I’m out.”
“Thank you,” Catherine said quietly. “I’ll take that on board.”
That was enough for Emily Parker to make up her mind. She had been sitting on the edge of it, half in, half out, but what she had just seen was not failure; it was someone taking a hit and not collapsing.
“I’ve heard what you’ve said, Catherine,” Emily began. “And I agree with Gordon, there are concerns. Replicating a successful shop is not easy. But what I’ve also seen is someone who learns. and that matters.”
She paused, deliberately, letting the moment settle.
“I’m prepared to offer you £50,000 for a 10% stake. But you will need guidance. and you will need to listen, because this only works if you change the way you run the business.”
The room shifted again, the tension not disappearing, but turning into something else entirely.
Gordon hadn’t built what he has today without a cutting, single-minded edge. That edge ran deep. At times, it tipped into something darker, a hard, unquestioned certainty that he was right, and always had been. It’s often the way with powerful people: their way, immediately, or not at all.
For all his enjoyment of the national spotlight that comes with a high-profile programme like Dragon’s Den, his natural rigidity was starting to show cracks. Emily Parker — a force in her own right — and a handful of contestants had exposed that more than once. Emily had proven to be shrewder by common consent, and that hurt him. He was still the dominant dragon, but no longer unchallenged, and he knew it. He was losing ground more often than he cared to admit.
“I’ll tell you what, Catherine, I haven’t given you your fair dues. Tell me a bit more about this football club.”
Denham Phoenix FC had kept surfacing in the discussion, but had not been examined, perhaps the Dragons hadn’t fully done their homework, or perhaps they had and didn’t quite understand what they were looking at.
Catherine laid it out clearly: the rapid rise of Denham Phoenix FC, driven by local businessman Greg Lyons, the scale of investment at such a low level, and her own central role in making it happen. She spoke more calmly now, the nerves having burnt themselves out, replaced by something steadier.
Gordon didn’t reach for the patronising tone he had previously used. Instead, Catherine could sense it, she had them. Both of them, the tide was turning.
Greg had pulled her aside beforehand. “Remember how smart you are. don’t be bullied.”
At the point where Gordon signalled his interest — even offering to match Emily — he tried to regain control by asking Catherine if she had any questions for them.
She did. and then some.
What followed was no longer a pitch. It stopped being about numbers and became about which of the two Dragons would be the right fit. It became a debate, edging into the principles and morality of business itself. The kind of debate that doesn’t usually make it to air because of the kind of exchange that made you wonder how the BBC had ever put Gordon in that chair, given his well-known views on workers’ rights.
Catherine didn’t hold back.
“At the end of the day, Gordon, we have different views on how to treat our workers, don’t we? Mine is that you get the best out of people when you look after them properly.”
It stopped him cold. He was used to numbers, not morals and ethics on the programme; he started to sweat. He wasn’t used to being challenged like this and certainly not on his own ground.
He moved quickly. control, always back to control. “I’ll tell you what — to secure this, I’ll write my offer now. £75,000.”
It wrong-footed Emily.
But not Catherine.
“Gordon… I don’t think we’re ever going to get on. I don’t think we share the same beliefs.”
There was no drama in how she said it. That was what made it land. no raised voice, no theatrics.
Rather than escalate or create a scene, she simply thanked him for the offer — and declined.
The goal was wide open for Emily to take the investment — but it wasn’t as simple as that.
Call it self-entitlement, call it something else, but she hesitated. She had been pushed into a position she hadn’t quite chosen, and it showed. Eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, she raised her offer to £75,000. Yet in doing so, almost defensively, she came back not just with numbers, but with a lecture, a list of character traits she believed Catherine would need going forward. But really just a lecture as punishment for the extra £25,000 she’d have to fork out.
“It’s a great look, your ethos,” she said, in effect. “But you have to remember, cost is cost. Your job is to keep people in jobs, not be so kind to them that competitors undercut you and everyone ends up losing these jobs anyway.”
Catherine didn’t flinch, grasping what was going on and feeling incensed at being spoken to like a child.
“I don’t agree. The onus is on ME to do better, to build a business model strong enough that I can pay people properly.”
Emily pushed back. “With due respect, you don’t really have the experience to make statements like that.”
“With all due respect, Emily,” Catherine replied, “I think that’s very arrogant.”
Then, almost unexpectedly:
“On that basis, Emily — I’m out. I wanted a business partner, not lectures, that is not a partnership.” The three other Dragons all nodded in agreement, loving the humiliation of Gordon and Emily.
Where that came from, no one quite knew. Catherine had grown in confidence throughout the grilling, but something deeper was at play.
Greg.
He had always held back from investing in her venture. But just before she went into the den, he’d said something that stayed with her:
“Catherine, I know I’ve never said it before, but if you need the money, I’ll lend it to you. I don’t want a share of the business. I’ll just help you get the capital back. No terms. No conditions.” This empowered her, as the audience, when it was aired, would have been shouting, ‘you fool, take the investment’ she knew she already had an investor with no strings. Except he was in love with her.
There was no guarantee any of this would make the final cut. A contestant effectively turning on two dragons was risky television. This was the talking point afterwards with the film and production crew.
But there was nothing to worry about. This wasn’t just good television, it was dynamite for their declining ratings.
Driving back, they knew after the programme was aired in April and with Dean focused on it, for the club’s publicity, it would be massive. But they would need a proper business plan and concept visuals for the launch of the clubhouse, and essentially, the new Heaven is a Percolator franchise for the production company to show, essentially, what Catherine did next.
Catherine was asleep when they returned to Denham. She leaned over and hugged Greg before kissing his cheek. “You’ve been amazing, Greg. Let’s talk tomorrow.
As he drove the short journey back, the usual thoughts rushed around his head: was it to talk about how close they were becoming, or the new business plan? He knew it would be the latter, but he sensed the former on the horizon.
Football #Non League #Content Creation #Football Serial #Denham Phoenix FC
Welcome to Denham nr Lewes 