Which company did Deborah Meaden buy in 1999 and later sell to Phoenix Equity Partners?

Deborah Meaden bought Weststar Holidays in 1999 and later sold it to Phoenix Equity Partners.

Weststar Holidays was a holiday-park business that became one of the major commercial successes in Meaden's career. She acquired the company with her family and developed its operations before the sale to Phoenix Equity Partners. The transaction helped establish her reputation as a serious investor and business operator before she joined Dragon's Den.

This business-history fact is separate from Meaden's television investments. Viewers may associate her most strongly with companies presented in the den, but her investment career already included substantial acquisitions and exits. Weststar Holidays is also distinct from the wider holiday and leisure brands that appeared in later parts of her portfolio.

Meaden joined the Dragon's Den panel in the second series, after the programme had already launched in 2005.