Which original Dragons' Den investor left the UK show after its first series?

Simon Woodroffe was the original Dragons' Den investor who left the UK show after its first series.

Woodroffe was already known as the founder of Yo! Sushi, the conveyor-belt sushi restaurant chain, before joining the programme. He appeared alongside Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Rachel Elnaugh and Doug Richard in the debut series, which launched in 2005.

His departure is sometimes confused with later changes to the panel. Theo Paphitis joined for the second series after Doug Richard left, while Rachel Elnaugh later departed and was replaced by Deborah Meaden. Woodroffe's exit therefore belongs to the earliest reshuffling of the UK panel, rather than the better-known later line-up changes.

Woodroffe continued his business career after Dragons' Den, developing the wider Yo! brand and writing about entrepreneurship. His brief tenure remains notable because he was part of the show's first-ever investment panel, before the programme settled into a more familiar group of Dragons.