Which business did Deborah Meaden buy before becoming a Dragons' Den investor?

Deborah Meaden bought Weststar Holidays before becoming a Dragons' Den investor.

Weststar Holidays was a family holiday business that Meaden acquired in 1999. She later sold the company, using the experience as part of a broader career in business investment and management. Her background in travel and leisure helped establish her as a commercially experienced entrepreneur before she joined the BBC programme.

Meaden became a Dragons' Den investor in 2006 and went on to become one of its most familiar dragons. Because her biography includes many companies and investments, Weststar Holidays can be confused with businesses connected to other investors, such as Red Letter Days, associated with Rachel Elnaugh, or La Senza, associated with Theo Paphitis.

The question concerns a company Meaden bought herself, not a business in which she later invested on television. That distinction is important when comparing investor biographies.