Rachel Elnaugh founded the business experience company Red Letter Days before becoming an original Dragon's Den investor.
Red Letter Days offered customers vouchers for experiences, helping establish the experience-gift sector in Britain. The company’s proposition differed from ordinary retail because the purchaser bought an activity or event rather than a conventional object.
Elnaugh’s entrepreneurial background made her a natural fit for the programme’s first investor panel. Her television role gave viewers an example of a founder assessing other businesses after having built a consumer-focused brand herself.
Red Letter Days is sometimes confused with gift companies created by later contestants. The company belongs to Elnaugh’s pre-television business career, and her investor role dates from the launch-era panel.