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Hard slog ahead for Dragons’ Den alumni

by Catherine Woods - Monday, 27th October 2008 -

Hard slog ahead for Dragons’ Den alumni

Julia Charles was on a high during the summer when she secured £75,000 from James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne on Dragons’ Den for her event management company, D4M.

Since then, however, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and Charles' £320,000-turnover business is feeling the pinch.

“We had all this fantastic press after appearing on Dragons’ Den and my business had almost trebled in size,” she says. “But all this credit crunch negativity has hit home and people have started cutting their budgets. We're still doing well – but we're having to knuckle down and really put the business out there.”

Charles is remaining positive, though, and D4M is throwing a launch party this week in Milton Keynes to show potential clients what she can do. “We’re bringing glamour to Milton Keynes,” she says. “Now’s not the time to hide away; now’s the perfect time to promote what you can do.”

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