Bannatyne and James Caan put £75,000 into her £320,000-turnover company (representing a stake of 40 per cent) when she appeared on the television show in July. But Bannatyne has now exited after Charles found he wasn’t as involved in the business as she would have liked. “I decided it would work better if it were just me and James, who is really passionate about the company,” Charles says. “Duncan has a lot of businesses and I know he lives six months of the year in France; I just think he’s too busy to give the time that’s needed for a small business like mine.” Charles says she’s relieved rather than disappointed that their partnership didn’t work out. “I would rather have someone owning part of my company who has as much passion and drive as me,” she says. “It didn’t feel right to have someone sitting back and reaping the rewards for something they have little involvement in.” Caan has taken over Bannatyne’s 20 per cent share in D4M, now owning 40 per cent of the company outright. Charles started D4M in 2002 when she was working part-time as an IT analyst. “I’ve always been very passionate about entertainment and I wanted to see if I could make a business out of it.” Related articles:James Caan: "The UK can kiss manufacturing goodbye"Hard slog ahead for Dragons’ Den alumni"Should we take our clothes off?" Peter Jones spoons Theo Paphitis
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