Deborah Meaden joined the Dragon's Den panel in 2006 and became known for backing environmentally focused businesses.
Meaden is an English businesswoman whose earlier career included work in the leisure and tourism sectors. She became a dragon after the programme's original run had begun, bringing experience in company management, retail and consumer businesses to the panel. Her on-screen approach often concentrates on practical operations, margins and the ability to build a business sustainably.
Her public profile also includes advocacy of environmental responsibility and support for businesses with sustainability credentials. That association does not mean every company she backs is environmental; her investments have covered a broad range of products and services.
She is sometimes confused with later female dragons such as Kelly Hoppen, Sara Davies or Jenny Campbell. Those investors joined different line-ups and at different times. Meaden's defining date for this question is her 2006 arrival on the British programme, where she became one of its most recognisable long-term investors.