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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