Hilary Devey joined the British Dragon's Den panel in 2011 after Theo Paphitis left the show.
Devey became a Dragon for the ninth series of the programme, which was broadcast in 2011. She was a prominent businesswoman and the founder and chief executive of Pall-Ex, a palletised freight network. Her logistics background gave the panel a perspective rooted in transport, distribution and business operations.
Theo Paphitis had been one of the programme’s long-running investors before leaving the regular panel. Devey therefore entered a line-up already familiar to viewers, but she was not the first woman to sit in the British Den: Rachel Elnaugh had appeared in the original series, and Deborah Meaden had joined earlier.
Hilary Devey remained associated with Dragon's Den for several series before departing. She later presented other television programmes, including The Intern. The dates matter because the panel changed frequently during the show’s history, and later Dragons such as Kelly Hoppen and Jenny Campbell joined in different periods.