‘I launched a £70m business during Covid – money doesn’t stay in my account very long’

In 2016, Sarah Willingham and her husband took their children out of school for a year to travel the world - Sarah Willingham

Ex-Dragon’s Den investor and serial entrepreneur Sarah Willingham, 50, made her first million by the time she was 30.

From a working-class family in Stoke, her drive has given her the Midas touch with her investments including the London Cocktail Club in 2010.

She launched her bar group Nightcap in 2021 which is now worth £70m.

She lives with her husband Michael and their four children in Brighton.

How did your childhood influence your attitude towards money?

Our family grew up in Stoke. Both my parents are from tough working-class backgrounds. They were war babies who grafted at their work, stayed long-term, were grateful for that security, and got a decent pension in the end.

Mum always told me, “Look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves.” I still live by that; I hate waste, especially food.

I’ve always been driven – I was born that way. I think drive is nature, not nurture. I think nurture can help it along the way, or it can destroy it. I’ve never been without a pound in my pocket since age 11.

What was your first job?

I delivered 181 papers for £1.81 when I was 11. Insane right?

Then at 12, I washed hair in a salon, and at 13, I was paid £1 an hour in a café in the local market in Stoke – but I got cash tips. I’ve always worked and tried to find the best way to have the life I wanted through work.

Later in my teens, when all my friends were going out to pubs and clubs, I got jobs there, so I had fun and got paid. And then when my dad wouldn’t let me take a gap year, I wanted to find work that’d allow me to see new places.

And that’s when I got into global hospitality managing restaurants like Pizza Express. I’d be in Moscow on Monday, Geneva Wednesday, and Tokyo Friday. I loved it!

Willingham, 50, made her first million by the time she was 30 - Geoff Pugh

What do you think makes you good at what you do?

I’m comfortable with risk, but it’s always calculated.

I’ve always tried to learn as much as possible from the people around me, such as when I shared an office with the chief executive and MD of Pizza Express. I’m a grafter, I definitely always wanted to make money, but at the same time not at the sacrifice of my life.

What I’ve learnt over the years is that there’s lots of people doing similar things and what sets you apart is how you structure a deal or the incentives on offer, such as an equity programme. Early on my accountant told me, “Sarah, it’s not always all about the future. You’ve got to think about today.”

There have been times where I’ve over-extended myself, but my driving force is my desire for freedom. I didn’t want an ordinary life, I didn’t want an average life, I wanted extraordinary.

When did you make your first million?

When I was 29, in partnership with the Clapham House Group, I bought the Bombay Bicycle Club, and expanded it to be the largest chain of Indian restaurants in the UK. Three years later, I sold my share back to the Group for £10m.

I had a 15-month-old and a newborn at that point.

Why did you sell?

I was 32, I was very maternal and really wanted to be a good mum. I knew I couldn’t have this life, where I had long erratic hours, lots of travelling, being away from home, with hundreds of employees.

I knew that I would need to dip in and out of business for a period when my kids were little, so that’s when I started doing more investing, so I was earning and working in a different way.

Life as a working mum is one big compromise, anybody that tells you otherwise is lying. Biologically, we’re not set up for equality, that’s the reality. We must fight harder.

What do you think about quotas to get more women in management?

If you’d asked me 25 years ago, I would have idealistically said “don’t be ridiculous, absolutely not”. You’ve got to always give the best person the right job.

Nowadays, I’m shocked at how little progress we’ve made. We’ve got to use quotas to force through change until it becomes the norm. It’s sad how so many women are underestimated.

I was once told, “We’ll know we’ve made it when there’s as many s--- women in the room as there are s--- men.”

What was your best personal financial decision?

Round-the-world family backpacking trip in 2016, not because of what I earned, but because of the priceless lessons we learned.

Our kids were between five and 10 at the time. We had a budget of £400 a day for the six of us and that had to include all transport, accommodation, and meals.

The kids learnt to manage a budget and the relative value of money. They realised if we stayed somewhere cheap, they could have a nicer dinner, but if they wanted nicer digs, then we’d cook in.

The Willingham family had a budget of £400 a day during their travels, which included transport, accommodation and meals - Sarah Willingham

At the end of that year, we weren’t ready to come home, so we decided to do longer stays in key destinations.

In Switzerland, we stayed in a small village called Villars-sur-Ollon for a season, where they went to primary school and learnt French, and went from non-skiers to competing. We bought an economical individual season pass for 350 Swiss francs (£305.87) compared to a weekly tourist pass that costs 290 francs.

When we got our annual visa for Australia, it entitled the kids to 12 weeks of education in a local school in Byron Bay, where they learned to surf.

As a result of travelling, they became very conscious of the environment and fell in love with nature.

How did you keep in touch with your business interests while you were away?

I’d fly back to London sporadically for a week and cram in anything face-to-face.

And while there wasn’t any Teams or Zoom, back then I’d Skype in or use WhatsApp video for board meetings. I remember sitting in Bali and dialling in for a Craft Gin Club meeting.

Every day in that first year, I’d open my laptop first thing for an hour, and when we were temporarily based in Switzerland, I’d fly back for one or two nights every fortnight.

I love my work, but then I was able to retreat to my paradise in the mountains.

Best Dragon’s Den investment?

The Craft Gin Club in 2016.

I invested £75,000 in the company and it’s worth over £40m now. I own 12.5pc of it.

On Dragons Den, Willingham (left) invested £75,000 in a company that's now worth over £40m - BBC

And what’s been your worst decision?

Improving financial literacy is really important to me.

A couple of years before I started on Dragon’s Den in 2015, my husband Michael and I launched a financial education website called Let’s Save Money, where it had lots of short, easy-to-understand videos to help you save money.

Despite all the media I did for it, the fundamental business model and the affiliate model just didn’t gain traction.

Given the hospitality industry has taken a beating since the pandemic, what made you think launching a new bar business Nightcap was a good idea?

After the initial shock of lockdown and us having to negotiate with landlords for our Cocktail Club chain, I realised I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

People are social animals who don’t like being caged.

While hospitality as a whole had taken on a lot of debt, their profit and loss accounts were strong.

The days of big premiums for sites disappeared overnight, landlords were looking for good covenants rather than people who’d come in with a big initial cheque, then ditch after six months.

I had the track record, so I floated the company, raised equity, and bought up loads of bars in January 2021.

Now Nightcap is worth around £70m and I own nearly 2pc.

If you could play God and change something about the business world, what would it be?

I’d encourage the Enterprise Investment Scheme [a government scheme that encourages venture capital into small businesses] and stop putting a cap on it.

It’s so important for start-ups and has been very successful. It also makes me sad to see many businesspeople succeed when they’re just not nice people or very kind. That doesn’t mean you can avoid making difficult decisions, just don’t be a d--- overall.

Are you more of a saver or a spender?

Well, money doesn’t stay very long in my account, but I’m not a very materialistic person either.

I don’t value possessions; I value experiences and memories. I drive a clapped-out eight-year-old Mini.

What is your financial priority going forward?

Being brought up in a working-class family, I’ve grafted my whole life.

I want to make sure my children value every pound and don’t take things for granted.

I want them to understand debt and credit, so they don’t get into trouble.

Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles - and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.