Allestree olive oil baron to appear on Dragons' Den
A FORMER Derby insurance adviser braved TV's Dragons' Den in
an effort to bankroll his dream to become a successful olive
oil merchant.
Michael North, who lived in Allestree for 27 years, owns his
own company, The Olive Trail, which specialises in importing
fresh, seasonal oil products and balsamic vinegars to its
customers.
But he decided that more investment and advertising was
needed for the idea to truly take off and applied for a chance
to appear on Dragons' Den.
The show features business gurus Peter Jones, Duncan
Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden and James Caan, who
decide whether to invest in business ideas from members of the
public.
Mr North, 57, is not allowed to reveal what happened on the
show before its screening on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday but he
said the experience had not been an unhappy one.
He said: "The Dragons were all laughing their heads off and
having a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it.
"I found them to be quite ordinary people and I found them
to be pretty single-minded.
"Each dragon has a particular speciality in which they are
particularly interested and they will only want to get involved
when it fits their mould.
"If they can understand it and grasp it, they will go for
it."
Mr North said that his daughter Amy, 26, of Oakwood, and son
Ian, 28, of Mickleover, were excited about the prospect of
seeing their dad on television.
He said: "I can't tell them anything either but they are
looking forward to it."
Mr North's fascination with olives began in the 1980s, when
he started wood-turning as a hobby while working as an
insurance adviser for his own company, Heritage Insurance
Brokers.
He worked with olive wood and said he became "intoxicated by
its smell" and wanted to learn more.
In 2000, he quit his job and travelled to the Greek island
of Poros, where he set up his own tour company, taking
thousands of visitors around the area's olive groves each
year.
Mr North, now of Frome, Somerset, said: "Fresh olive oil is
like a fruit juice. It's not oily at all, it's fresh and cleans
the palette.
"There are 48 varieties, all with subtle differences in
taste, from a hint of melon to artichoke.
"I knew that people would want to buy it, especially
because, in place of saturated fats, it can make you live a lot
longer."
As well as selling olive oil products, Mr North runs a club
where members can sign up to get fresh, seasonal oil delivered
to them at the end of each harvest.
He has contracts with farms in 33 countries across the world
so that fresh oil is always available.
His products can be seen on his websites
www.theolivetrail.co.uk and www.oliveoilclubs.co.uk.
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