Rachel Elnaugh
Rachel Elnaugh | |
|---|---|
 Rachel Elnaugh in 2023
| |
| Born |
12 December 1964 Essex, England
|
| Education | Chelmsford County High School for Girls |
| Occupation(s) | Former Entrepreneur, Anti-Vaccination Activist |
| Known for |
Dragons' Den,
Phoenix Rose, Anti-Vaxx Activism |
| Children | 5 |
| Website | https://rachelelnaugh.com |
Rachel Elnaugh (born 12 December 1964) is a British entrepreneur who founded the UK gift company Red Letter Days. She was one of the investors participating in the first two series of BBC Two's TV show Dragons' Den.
Early life
When she was younger she lived above her father's electrical shop, 'Elnaugh and Son' in Chelmsford. Rachel attended Chelmsford County High School for Girls, a Grammar School in Essex. She originally wanted to take art history, but she was rejected by five universities. She climbed the corporate ladder from being an office junior in a local firm of accountants to become a qualified tax consultant with Arthur Andersen.
Career
Red Letter Days
In 1989, Elnaugh founded Red Letter Days, one of the first UK companies to sell experiential gifts, such as motor racing days, hot air ballooning and health spa days. The idea to set up Red Letter Days came from purchasing tickets to a cricket match for her father as a gift.
The company grew to an £18 million annual turnover and led to Elnaugh being a 2001/2 finalist in the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
After an attempt to expand the business into the retail sector, Red Letter Days went into administration on 1 August 2005. Elnaugh, who had become a dragon on the TV series Dragons' Den, sold the remaining assets and goods of Red Letter Days to fellow dragons Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis.
ITV1's Tonight programme criticised the business model of Red Letter Days, which included unpaid suppliers and disappointed purchasers. The programme suggested that the company failed to escrow or earmark supplier payment equity, using it instead as working capital. However, Elnaugh blamed Red Letter Days' bankers.
Dragons' Den
In the mid 2000s, Elnaugh joined the BBC's television series Dragons' Den. She was one of the five investors ("Dragons") in the first two series of the show, making five agreed investment offers – in Grails, Le Beanock, Snowbone, Elizabeth Galton and Bedlam Puzzles.
After Dragon's Den and Red Letter Days
Her book Business Nightmares about the fine line between business success and failure was published by Crimson in May 2008. After this, Elnaugh was a business mentor for other entrepreneurs and founded the digital publishing and marketing platform Source TV in 2013. Her book PROSPERITY was published on 23 April 2016.
She aired her controversial views on the Covid vaccination programme and sparked outrage when she called for Chris Whitty to hang, calling jabs of 12-15-year-olds "child abuse". She was subsequently part of a group called 'Phoenix Rose' which bought 72-acres of land in Cressbrook Dale, Derbyshire in an attempt to create a "safe haven away from the threat that humanity [is] facing". The scheme, that has been described as an 'anti-vax outpost', proved controversial with locals.
In May 2023, Elnaugh stood for a seat on the Derbyshire Dales District Council, under a party that she co-founded earlier that year called the LOVE Party. However, the party is not registered with the Electoral Commission, so she appeared on the ballot as an independent. She came in sixth place with 175 votes, being beaten by Conservative Party candidates Mark Wakeman and Gareth Bryn Gee.
Publications
- Business Nightmares: When Entrepreneurs Hit Crisis Point... 8 May 2008, Crimson, ISBN 1-85458-409-X
- "PROSPERITY" 23 April 2016, Source Publishing