Down Street Station Owner Sued Public Transport Company For Over $55 Million! | Dragons’ Den

I need to take a deep breath Just to be clear was that two million Pounds two million pounds Hello dragons my name is Ajit Chambers I'm the chief executive officer of the Old London Underground company I have Invested five years in getting my Company in the position to open the First tourist Adventure into a disused London tube station in the station that I'm talking about is down street in Mayfair we're putting three businesses Into this site the first business is the Experiential tourist Adventure if you Can imagine we're recreating what Happens during the second world war Where families have to disappear from Their houses and run and hide in these Sites as the bombs are coming down the Tourists that come in really feel the Fear and the noises outside and the Smells of the old station The second business is an events Business Some of these deep drop empty shaft Areas are fabulous to put in small Events and have just a little crowd of People in there for the launch of a CD Or a product itself and the third Business is a food and beverage area so You can see the picture here I'm here today to offer a shareholding Of 51 of the old London Underground Company in exchange for two million

Pounds [Music] I need to take a deep breath Now gee you left that right to the end 51 and just to be clear was that two Million pounds two million pounds that's A lot of money isn't it It is a lot of money Is that what it's going to cost to do All of this work the capital expenditure On the site is one million six hundred Thousand I've left 240 000 for pre-operations and An extra 200 slippage to bring it up to 2 million You're offering 51 yes true And who gets the 49 that the balance who Where's that I own the 49 at the moment Can I ask what you do for a living yes Of course um well I spent five years Completely on this before that I used to Work in banking in Switzerland and London I just want to know how much Money have you made and how much money Could you put into this I like questions like that I've um I've Spent my own money on this roughly 160 000 pounds over five years and four Months and how much money have you got Yourself personally Left yeah not a lot So not a few hundred thousand for Example I did sell my house recently to Fund the last parts of this

Were you in a position to sell your House I mean have you got loads of other Assets and nope that's it So you have literally put Everything on the line yes If you don't get the money from us and You don't get the money at all yes What are you gonna do I'm sure someone Else will be interested in taking this Site so why have you come to us I I Would like us a set of individuals To partner with me I tell you what give me 10 percent And I'll give you all the advice you Want the part of the guidance of the Advice is not something I need at this Point I mean one of the beauties of this Project is we've done all that work what I need is an investor who will let us Get on with this Ajit can you tell me how many square Feet that is for the tourist attraction 1800 square feet there 1800 square feet yes I'm slightly aghast Now because you don't get many tourists In 1 800 feet Let me um run through the numbers yeah We're looking at 10 Tours of 16 people per day so it's a Very low number that are going through There we're also looking at making it a Low Cost for the ticket which is 18 pounds So it's turning over

2887 pounds per day Now the events we've put in the business Plan that we'd have one event a month Um at 10 000 pounds an event which will Make 120 000 pounds with the events and Then we're looking at the above ground Section here which brings in 288 000 Pounds so when you add the three Business streams together the net profit At the end of year one is 1.16 million but the real point of Coming here today is that we're at the Design Point we've got the team to Deliver it the only thing we're missing Is the investor I completely agree that there is massive Scope to use these sites Personally I don't buy into the the tourist Adventure down there I don't buy into The events and and you've just basically Got a random Outlet at the top [Music] If I took a site that was Central London I was going to spend 2 million pounds on I'd want a lot more than just over a Million pounds turnover a year out of it Can I go into the detail with the Turnover well you already have We've already had the turnover comes From 10 times 16 people a day coming Through the experience very very low Turnover let me just be clear with the Capacity so that's the number we've set

At a very low level that's not our Capacity agit you've worked so hard on This For five years I can see that I just Don't think you found the right thing It's just not for me love I'm out The dens food and drink expert decides To hold on to her cash as she becomes The first dragon to walk away from the Deal As Peter Jones prepared to stump up the 2 million pounds to bankroll the Business Are you not building the very experience That no one would ever want to Experience anyway Well I mean I don't think for one minute When those Air Raids were going off that People got very excited that they were Going to go down into that area for 45 Minutes if I said to my child I'm going To take you down To experience what your Great-grandfather experienced in 1943 And you're going to be riddled with fear I just see it as a a pitch for cash Where we roll over the cash where you Walk up and have no risk so I'm not I'm Not getting the sense that you've got Anything at risk apart from the last Four years of your life well those four Years have gone by the time you've Walked into here this is now a future Opportunity

I'm not going to invest and say that I'm Out Thank you very much My view is it is very ambitious okay I'm Very concerned for your well-being I Believe 1.6 million will probably get 30 Of it finished You'll run out of funds they'll be Locked on the door right and then it'll Probably stay there like for another 50 Years okay So I hope you have plan B set up on that Basis I must say I'm out okay thank you Very much I did bid for investment appears to be Going off the rails Can Deborah meaden who made her millions In the Leisure industry get his business Dream back on track The issue for me is you are not looking For anybody to add value to you you are Looking for an investor you don't want Somebody who wants to be all over it I Would be all over it it's not that I Don't want your input here listen maybe It was just the worst but you actually Said I just want your money I'm not sure why I would ever walk into Something like this that is halfway Through I've had absolutely no input in Whatsoever and just hand my cash over to Somebody who's actually done the bit Where I believe I can add value You might find an investor but you're

Not going to find an investor in Somebody like me who spent my life in Tourism Because I know too much about this Business It's extremely disappointing you would Say that because I would love to have You on board with something like this With your experience I do I actually don't think I'm the Right investor for you I know you think I am I don't think I am okay so I'm Afraid I won't be okay thank you very Much I'm out Only Nick Jenkins is left He's already raised concerns about the Capacity of the venue now he wants to Know about the agreement Ajit has in Place with the owners of the site What about the lease we're in Negotiations for a two-year uh Non-payment period and thereafter what's The what's the release how much uh Eighty thousand pounds a year My concern is that actually what do you Really have If someone more credible comes in with a Couple of million queries and says Actually we'd like to take the lease Could they do that You don't own this opportunity True yeah that's the problem you don't Own this opportunity you're selling Something that you don't own no the

Opportunity is the opportunity to delete This place so that's up for grabs Someone else could knock on the door and Come up with another idea like this and Do it and then they're in 100 of it true I'm not prepared to Value it at two Million pounds and for that reason I'm Out okay thank you very much [Music] Ajit reaches the end of the line in the Den with doubts being raised that he has Exclusive access to his disused station His bid for a two million pound Investment goes down the tube the Ability to sell something like this to a Group of individuals that I'd like to Have worked with is very difficult and In reality I didn't get that across my Pitch wasn't good enough I simply move on to other investors and There are very many of them especially In that area of town

Your First Funnel Challenge
Quickly Launch Your Idea And Turn It Into A Business That You're Proud Of In Just 90 Minutes A Day!

(This Can Work Even If You Currently Have No Tech Skills, Don't Have A Product, Or Have No Idea What A Funnel Is Yet...!) 

(Challenge Starts Every Monday)

Leave a Comment