Peter Jones was the only original Dragon to remain on the British Dragon's Den panel continuously from 2005.
Jones joined the programme when the British version launched and became its longest-serving investor. His business interests include technology, mobile communications, property and retail, giving him a broad range of sectors to discuss with contestants.
The original panel also included Duncan Bannatyne, Rachel Elnaugh, Doug Richard and Simon Woodroffe. Each of those investors later left the regular line-up, while Jones continued appearing across the programme’s successive series. His familiar role has made him one of the show’s defining figures.
A common mix-up is to treat every long-serving Dragon as an original one. Deborah Meaden, for example, joined during the third series, and Theo Paphitis became a regular later. Jones’s distinction is specifically continuous service from the UK programme’s first series, not simply the greatest number of appearances in one period.