Lancashire-based Northern Pasta Co is heading into the Dragons’ Den as it seeks investment to fund a new production facility and create jobs in the North of England.
Co-founders Imogen Royall and Matt Kenyon will pitch their British-grown spelt pasta to the Dragons when the programme airs on BBC One on Thursday, September 17.
The husband-and-wife team founded Northern Pasta Co with a mission to produce pasta without compromising soil health, the environment or personal wellbeing.
Its products are made from regeneratively grown British spelt and crafted using traditional slow bronze extrusion methods at the company’s Lancashire headquarters.
The pair hope investment from one or more of the Dragons could help take the brand into its next stage of growth through the development of a new production facility and further employment in the North.
Royall said: “It’s such an exciting feeling knowing that those who tune in are about to see one of the biggest moments of our brand journey. We’ve been counting down the days, and we’re just so grateful for the experience. We can’t wait for our community to discover which of the Dragons love our pasta as much as they do.”
First broadcast in 2005, Dragons’ Den gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to a panel of investors in exchange for a stake in their companies.
The BBC programme has longstanding links with the North’s television and business sectors. It moved to dock10 at MediaCity in Salford in 2012 and has also been filmed at Space Studios in Gorton and Manchester’s Old Granada Studios.
Its opening sequence has featured Manchester’s industrial heritage, including footage of mills in Ancoats, while Dragon Steven Bartlett established his business career in the city as co-founder of social media company Social Chain.
Northern Pasta Co’s appearance on Dragons’ Den will be broadcast at 8pm on BBC One on September 17.
