Julie Deane founded The Cambridge Satchel Company and later became an investor on the UK programme Dragon's Den.
Deane started the company in Cambridge in 2008 with her mother, Freda Thomas. The business began with a small number of traditionally styled leather satchels and grew into an internationally recognised accessories brand. Its name refers to the city where the company was founded, not to a university-owned brand.
Deane joined the Dragon's Den panel for the programme's thirteenth series. Her experience was unusual among the investors because she had built a consumer-products company from a family-led start into a larger fashion business.
The company is sometimes associated only with school satchels, but its range expanded into handbags, backpacks and other leather goods. Deane's story is therefore both a Dragon's Den fact and an example of how a focused product category can develop into a broader lifestyle brand.