Executive PA Magazine interviews Deborah Meaden and he PA. The full story publishes in the next issue of Executive PA Magazine

That Deborah Meaden combines the demands of being one of the UK’s most recognisable and successful business entrepreneurs with sitting as a permanent fixture on the hard-hitting panel of the BBC’s hit ‘Dragons’ Den’, is rather remarkable.

Though by her own admission, the ability to switch from the cameras to the corporate boardrooms with effortless class is thanks in no small part to the employment of a steadying force... a reliable and stress-releasing sidekick whose support is even more unrelenting than, one would imagine, Theo’s very own ‘Mrs P’.

“I think we work extremely well together,” Deborah says, in Executive PA magazine’s exclusive interview, talking about Charlotte Clark, PA to one of the last decade’s most entertaining personalities in the business world.

“I’d imagine she says I am pretty demanding but, at the same time, straight and very fair. Because I am often operating at 100mph, the constant juggling of my diary can be difficult, but I have high expectations of her because, at the end of the day, she’s very good.”

Given the 51-year-old’s success, fuelled by an unswerving belief in her ability to get the job done, it’s maybe not such a surprise that there was a time when Deborah felt she could manage and organise all her own commitments.

“I must admit, I did go through a phase of thinking I could do everything myself and that I didn’t need extra people looking after me,” she admits. “I guess I am a bit of a control freak in that respect; I quite like being able to have a handle on everything. But through painful experience, I’ve learnt that in life there are only so many hours in a day. There is always more to do and my time is best spent dealing with the things that I and no-one else can do, rather than the things that somebody else could do, and often better than I could anyway!

“Once I had got my mind around that, I took the plunge and got myself a PA. I’m not sure why I resisted it for so long and I recognise now how having someone like Charlotte has made me better. In any business, it’s a case of putting the right jobs in front of the right people.”

Building businesses
Job allocation is certainly something close to Deborah’s heart given the construction of her business empire over the last two decades. Transforming the leisure market in the south-west in the 1990s was an early and vital step en route towards a multimillion pound portfolio of projects, and a move that was always conducted with a sense of effortless control, despite her TV persona launching the occasional exasperated rebuttal on Dragon’s Den!

“People ask me if I am portrayed fairly in the Den – is that really me? I think I’d have to say ‘yes’. If someone asks me for £250,000 and can’t be bothered to tell me what their turnover is, I am quite entitled to get a little bit tetchy about it. But, as I think most people know, that is only one side – there’s much more to me than that.

“And anyway, most people who stand before us in the Den do know what they are talking about. We have some brilliant business brains in the country anyway, but you see new projects come before you that are genuinely outstanding. A recent standout one for me was Carol Savage from ‘My Dish’. She described her website as ‘Facebook for foodies’ and pitched extremely well, despite coming under very tough fire from the Dragons. Peter, Duncan and the others didn’t get it at all – I actually sat there for about an hour, just watching her just answering very, very tough questions without getting ruffled, just batting off the criticism. She was very good.

“I think business is all about keeping a cool head, having belief in what you’re doing, and never selling anyone short, particularly yourself. That’s certainly how I went about building what I have.”

Turning the tables
So, at the start of her journey, would Deborah have stood up and pitched in the Den?

“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that question before! Obviously the programme wasn’t around back then, and I have always been able to raise the funds in the past through traditional bank funding. But if I thought it was appropriate, I’d have gone into the Den, yes, but I wouldn’t have just done it for the sake of it.”

To read the full interview with Deborah, including the interview with her PA subscribe to Executive PA Magazine. Every issue of the magazine includes an interview with a high level boss and their PA to find out what life is like from both sides of the desk. Each issue is also packed with the latest news, best venues and informative features. Top-level PAs can't afford to miss out - so to ensure your copy lands promptly on your desk subscribe now.

 

Image courtesy of BBC/Rolf Marriott