Self-made millionaire Duncan Bannatyne returns to our screens tonight for the new series of hit TV show Dragons’ Den - but this business hard man has a story to inspire any budding entrepreneur.  Find out how he made it big in our exclusive interview

He may drive a Mercedes 500 SL, own a house in France and be worth more than £170m – but Scottish entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne hasn’t always lived a life of luxury.

One of seven children raised in a Glasgow tenement, Duncan began his working life in the Royal Navy at age 16, but was discharged three years later after threatening to throw his commanding officer overboard for a bet. 

Aged 20, with no references or qualifications, Duncan trained as a welder before relocating to Jersey. It was there he resolved to make something of himself.

“I was 29 at the time and I realised that if I was going to get married and have a family – which I wanted to do – I would have to start in business and start making some money, because I couldn’t do it on the sort of wages I was earning in Jersey,” he says.

First steps
Duncan returned to the UK and set about building his empire. He took a job in a bakery in Stockton-on-Tees and worked in the motor trade, buying and selling. With funds behind him, he made his first business move.

“A year after I came to the mainland I bought a house and decided to start a business - so I bought an ice cream van at auction and started selling ice cream,” he recalls.
 
The ice cream van cost him £450. Within five years he traded up to a fleet of four vans with a turnover of £300,000. Yet Duncan still wasn’t satisfied - “while I had the ice cream business I realised I couldn’t expand any further and I wanted to do something different,” he recalls.

He set about looking for new opportunities – 1986 saw him develop a chain of nursing homes, and later he expanded into childrens’ day nurseries and health club chain Bannatyne Fitness. His empire has continued to expand and now includes such investments as Bannatyne Casino, Bannatyne Bar, Hotel Bannatyne and Bannatyne Housing.

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