Dragon's Den stars left speechless after 'barking mad' pitch

Dragon's Den stars have been left baffled after a "barking mad" pitch that saw two people seeking investment for their space travel business.

Business owners and friends Barry Shanks and Dave Doughty pitched their idea to the iconic Dragon investors, where they asked for a £75,000 investment in their company DD Aviation for a 5% stake in the business.

The business partners brought the "UK's first dedicated space travel agency" to the Dragons, with the claim that they would "change the future of tourism". As it stands, DD Aviation already provides aircraft like helicopters and private jets to clients, but they're hoping to go bigger than that.

After revealing they had profits of £188,000 to date, they went on to explain how they wanted to expand their business by adding space travel opportunities. Their pitch saw them giving each of the Dragons a personalised astronaut teddy, where they revealed they wanted to offer "exhilarating or leisurely trips to the moon".

They elaborated by saying the more leisurely trip would be a "hot air balloon style" method of travel offering a lounge bar, and Wi-Fi and would travel at 15mph so people could view the Earth from above. They added that each trip would be "custom" and tickets would cost around £125,000.

Naturally, there were many questions. Deborah Meaden started off by asking how far in the future bookings would be available, and they said they were looking to take bookings for 2027 trips.

Following some more questioning, Touker Suleyman said: "You don't need the money, so why are you here?" to which the duo admitted they were "after a Dragon" to support their business idea.

He went on to ask: "What could a Dragon contribute to your success?" and they went on to talk about the demographic that would use their product, saying that they know high net worth individuals associate with each other.

Steven Bartlett asked how much the business relied on advancements in the space industry, and the duo replied: "only a matter of time really and that's why we want to get in early".

But they hadn't secured any bookings, and the Dragons were unconvinced further when they realized that the men had enough money already and didn't really need any more investment.

Deborah Meaden concluded by saying: "My friends would think I've gone barking mad if I walked around saying: 'I think you should take a trip in a private jet or go into space.'"

Dragon's Den airs Thursdays on BBC One at 8 pm with episodes available on iPlayer.