Sarah Willingham, Entrepreneurs, Debrett's 500 2016, People of Influence

Sarah Willingham

Restaurant Owner

Sarah Willingham gained notoriety in 2015 as a Dragon on Dragons Den, but had achieved considerable success prior to that as an entrepreneur and restaurant founder. With experience in the hospitality industry, two business degrees and an MBA, Willingham went on to combine her two interests, business and restaurants, by working for two of the UK’s most successful chains, Planet Hollywood and Pizza Express. While at Pizza Express she spotted a gap in the market for a chain of Indian restaurants, which she filled with The Bombay Bicycle Club – the largest and most successful Indian restaurant chain in the UK. Before Dragons’ Den, Willingham appeared as a judge on BBC 2’s The Restaurant, going on to co-found and invest in The London Cocktail Club and Craft Cocktail Company with the winners of the third series. Willingham sets herself apart from the other Dragons on the BBC2 show, stating, ‘I’m a new breed of Dragon – the first who’s a working mum of four children under 9’.