TWO BROTHERS from Reading are set to expand their business after making a successful pitch on Dragons Den.
Luke and Owen Buckmaster, founders of Doughboys Pizza put their proposal to the Dragons on the episode airing on Thursday, January 16.
The pair pitched their artisanal pizza business to Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Steven Bartlett, Touker Suleyman, and Sara Davies.
Having launched their artisanal frozen pizza brand at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the brothers grew Doughboys Pizza to supply over a thousand UK venues.
These include top football clubs and well-known hospitality chains and they recently secured listings with Ocado in the UK and Spinneys in the UAE.
Their pitch involved expanding the business to creating an at-home product which they called a DIY pizza kit, which sees ingredients delivered to customers’ doors, as well as a frozen pizza range.
Their pitch received three offers and ultimately secured a £90,000 investment from Maidenhead’s Peter Jones for a 10% stake.
It comes after they launched the business in 2020, inspired by their desire fix a “lack of high-quality handmade Italian pizza.”
They partnered with a family pizza producer in Italy and, despite setbacks during the Covid pandemic, has grown to generate accumulative sales of nearly £4m.
They now supply to to Arsenal Football Stadium as well as a frozen range in Ocado, having garnered six awards and reached the finals of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in 2021.
Luke Buckmaster said: “You watch the show at home and wonder how you’d handle the pressure, but nothing compares to standing there in front of the Dragons for real.
“We felt an immediate surge of adrenaline but also pride in what we’ve built–hearing their excitement about Doughboys Pizza validated all the sleepless nights and sacrifices we’ve made.
“Walking away with an offer from Peter Jones felt absolutely surreal – we’re proof that with hard work beats any type of qualifications and with a genuine passion, you can bring any dream to life.”
Peter Jones said during the episode: “There is no way I can let this go to Deborah Meaden–no chance.”
