Dragons' Den star Sara Davies has a company worth £35million but insists on putting her five-year-old son to work for £2 a day.
The craft entrepreneur, 35, will be the hit TV show’s youngest-ever investor when she makes her debut tonight.
And not only will Sara be passing on her corporate expertise to budding tycoons but she is also intent on setting her sons Oliver, five, and two-year-old Charlie along the right path in life.
Sara built up her business Crafter’s Companion, now worth £35million, in her university bedroom from savings of only £5,000.
“But just because I’m a lot wealthier now doesn’t mean I want my kids to grow up differently to how I did,” said the Co Durham-born new Dragon.
“I worked in my parents’ decorating store from six. My mum would get me in every Saturday polishing the paint and straightening the wallpaper for 50p.
“My five-year-old son will help out at the shop, which my sister owns, and she’ll have him doing the same thing that I was back then.
"With a bit of inflation he will get a couple of quid. My boys can negotiate much better than I can.”
Sara predicted that her sons will be disappointed by her appearance when they watch her on BBC2 on Sunday night.
“There’ll be hell on, as I’m sure they think I’ll be wearing a dragon outfit and going to a hill with a stone over it,” she laughed.
But she knows her new high profile will not faze her lads.
“I’m on shopping channels a lot and they watch me on TV so this will make no difference to them,” she said.
Sara is making nine investments in this series and said fellow Dragons did not expect her to come in with all guns blazing. “I give them a run for their money,” she added.
“They may have felt, ‘She’s nice, we’ll take her under our wing’. But I fight them. I took business off Peter Jones. I’m a smiling assassin.”
Sara insisted her millions have not changed her and added: “I really don’t want Dragons’ Den to do so.”
