I had no experience but EU let me export
DRAGONS’ Den reject Shaun Pulfrey, who now exports a million of his Tangle Teezer hairbrushes a month, said: ‘I’m going to opt to stay in for the simple reason it’s done my business good trading with Europe, and I would like to think it’s going to be a great opportunity for others.’ The former hairdresser appeared on Dragons’ Den in 2007 seeking £80,000 in exchange for a 15 per cent stake in his business but walked away empty-handed after being told his idea was ‘hair-brained’. Pulfrey, whose father wanted him to be a fisherman like himself, said: ‘There was a lot of work behind the scenes. It wasn’t just a stroke of luck. Not one time did I ever doubt myself, did I ever doubt the product or did I even say to myself “What the hell are you doing?”. ‘We went from doing 98,000 Tangle Teezers in a year to just under one million a month which we export globally. We have more than 300 people in the factories. I have created jobs, I am proud of that. We export to more than 80 countries – China, Japan, America, Mexico, the list goes on.
‘All the manufacturing is in the UK. In fact the primary factory is in Witney in Oxfordshire, the Prime Minister’s constituency. I’ve met him a couple of times and am supportive of any Prime Minister supporting British business. As far as the referendum goes, the thing that’s annoying me at the moment is the kerfuffle that’s going on getting there.
‘Entrepreneurs will always work with the set-up they’ve got. Free trading in Europe has worked for me very well. The rules that are set up now, that I’ve worked to and worked with, have been very good for my business. As someone who hadn’t had any experience of owning a business, I’d like to think those opportunities are afforded to other people when they start their business in the near future. ‘I think entrepreneurs are people who adapt to situations anyway. I think a lot are saying at the moment: “Can we just get on with running our business?” ’