Jones selects Tycoon contestants
Friday, 18 May 2007 13:35
Peter Jones also appears on the BBC's Dragons' Den
Multi-millionaire Peter Jones has selected the six contestants set to battle it out on the ITV1 show Tycoon.
The wannabe entrepreneurs will live and work in Tycoon Tower on the London's South Bank for their chance to win the profits made by the six companies that the contestants must set up and run.
The contestants include a 17-year-old trying to start a free newspaper for teenagers and two women who want to make either an alcoholic fruit drink or garden equipment just for ladies.
Environmentally friendly bag dispensers, 'real-hair' clip-on hair extensions and micro radio-controlled helicopters are also on the agenda.
The Dragons' Den panellist said: "This series is a personal challenge and risk for me as well as the entrepreneurs. They've got my mobile number, my email and I've told them I'm there for them 24/7.
"We're all working in the same building, Tycoon Tower, and I'm on their case daily. I even have a webcam so I can see who's working hard."
Layla Smith, a programme controller at ITV, said that the new show will be fascinating and will involve entrepreneurs learning how to make it on their own.
"Peter has been here before; he’s created businesses out of nothing and he’s lost some too – now he’s making that journey on television with a group of entrepreneurs to shape," Ms Smith said.
"Having watched him at work, he’s calm, inspirational and focused but he refuses to take excuses and he’s expecting all our entrepreneurs to work as hard as he had to."
Tycoon will begin on ITV1 next month.