Exclusive: Peter Jones hints at another new panellist for Dragons' Den

Jones made the comments in an exclusive interview with BusinessZone.co.uk following the sales of one of his telecoms companies, Wireless Logic, for £38m. The entrepreneur had acquired the Machine-to-Machine communications company in 2002. It is the third telecoms business sold by Jones over the past 12 months, though he was quick to say the activity didn’t mean he is exiting the telecoms and technology sectors.

 

Discussing the addition of Hilary Devey in Dragons’ Den further, Jones explains he was a big fan of hers when she made the line-up: “She’s quite similar to me in one sense; she’s very direct; she’s very straight; she’s very honest,” he says. “I also think she’s great because she’s very gutsy; she’s been through a lot in her own life. She’s highly successful but the issues she’s had have been well publicised.

 

“I’m really, really pleased she’s on the team; she adds a breath of fresh air to the Den, that’s the only thing I can say really,” Jones adds, before revealing his hopes for further changes to the Dragons’ Den line-up in the next series. “I look forward to another refreshment and change next year, and I think it needs to happen. To keep the Den alive you have got to bring in new blood, and I’m pretty sure and hopeful that in series 10 there will be some new blood in the Den again.”

 

Jones admits he remains passionate and excited by the show: “I love the show because you never know what’s going to come up the stairs; it’s a bit like having a blind date for business,” he says. For all his hopes for further change in the team however, his own position is not there to be usurped by a newcomer, as he confirms his place in the series 10 line-up “unless the BBC say the public have had enough of me,” he jokes.