No investment for Shropshire worker in Dragons' Den

Shropshire university worker Nick Gallagher-Hughes left the infamous den empty-handed after asking for the cash for his business selling a special dance frame –- but says his Topline Dance Products Company is continuing to grow.

Mr Gallagher-Hughes, staff training and development officer at Harper Adams University College near Newport, persuaded 46-year-old Dragon Peter Jones to try out the frame, which is designed to improve posture, as he waltzed around the set to the strains of Cry Me A River.

But his pitch – described as excellent by most of the the dragons – finally ended in failure after a tetchy run-in with Scottish gym tycoon Duncan Bannantyne.

Mr Gallagher-Hughes, from Hereford, told Sunday night's BBC 2 show he had been selling the frame since 2010 but made a loss last year after concentrating on trade fairs.

He brought his own dancers in to demonstrate the device and made a confident start after telling the five dragons he had sold 487 of the £105 devices in the past year. They cost just under £20 to make but he had made a loss of £2,200.

That upset Bannantyne and the dragons then started to pull out.

Mr Gallagher-Jones said: "There was a bit of friction between Duncan and I which came across on the show but he was the only one who didn't seem to buy into the idea. Peter really liked the frame and said that if I was asking for £20,000 rather than £97,500 he would have invested.

"To be honest I would have gladly taken that just to get him on board but den rules state you have to get an offer for the full amount. The whole thing has been great for exposure."

Watch Nick Gallagher-Jones take on the Dragons on BBC iPlayer