Diamond geezer breaks Dragons' Den record
A DIAMOND trader from Bourton-on- the-Water has set a record on TV's Dragons' Den after walking away from hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Clive Billing is the founder, creator and developer of online jewellery business diamond geezer.com.
With 40 years' experience in the diamond business, Clive was looking for £255,000 from the Dragons for 15 per cent of his business to expand into the bargain jewellery market.
Entrepreneurs Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden and James Caan interrogated Clive for two hours, cut to 10 minutes for the hit BBC2 show, shown on Monday night.
Clive's three-minute pitch started badly when Deborah revealed he had broken the rules about contacting Dragons outside the programme and declared herself out of the bidding.
Scottish leisure magnate Duncan also took a dislike to Clive after it was revealed he only made pre-tax profits of £3,243 last year despite having run an internet business for 20 years.
Declaring himself out, he added: “When you came on you said it was a pleasure to meet you all. I have to say, the pleasure is all yours.”
But Clive's floundering presentation turned when the trader revealed that leading internet diamond company bluenile.com had an annual turnover of $330million, and impressed them with his grasp of complex figures.
The three remaining Dragons offered Clive the money he asked for but for 40 per cent of his business, and the freehold of his premises.
Clive tried to bargain with the Dragons, offering 30 per cent, and James warned him turning their offer down could be a “million-pound mistake on the CV of Clive Billing”.
But Clive, 56, refused to back down and left the show with nothing, breaking the record for the largest offer refused on the programme.
He said he had no regrets and the show had been edited to make it look as though diamondgeezer.com was not as successful as it was.
He said: “It became a real estate deal where they wanted 40 per cent of my business and to gift them diamondgeezer.com. We're a family-owned business and don't need to impress anybody. It was an absolutely fabulous experience, but the worst thing was it made me look miserable when we had some great banter.”
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by Basma Kayali, Manchester
Thursday, October 14 2010, 11:35PM
“My husband decided to treat me to a diamond ring for our 5 year anniversary and we came across diamond geezer and many others, the pricing was so different from site to site and very confusing in terms of selecting the right attributes and certification of a diamond. I came across this really great company who explain it all http://www.giadiamondjewellery.com they only supply gia certified diamonds and when i spoke to them they were very very helpful. I could not find anyone on the net cheaper than them. the quality of the ring was stunning. I bought a GIA graded emerald cut 0.91 carat I VVS2 with excellent polish and symmetry which was set into a beautiful platinum ring for £2547 (wow i sound like a pro)they even put a picture of our ring on their site. others online including diamond geezer where selling this for about £4000. Total bargain so happy, I even got a free handmade stunning box from the ringboxcompany.co.uk. I think they also offer people who are getting engaged a free pre-wedding portrait shoot with a pro wedding photographer in the lake district but we already have our wedding photos so we just didnt use the voucher. try them out im definitely going to.”
by Ian Lowe, Airdrie, UK
Thursday, October 08 2009, 9:29AM
“you don't live on 3000 a year - especially after 20 years.
when you hear someone talking about profits like this, that is after availing themselves of every scam in the book to dodge tax.
don't think this man is the little guy standing up to the dragons - this is someone dodging out of paying their fair share of tax.”
by denbigh, France
Sunday, July 19 2009, 5:28PM
“Well, without knowing that he had been on DD, a couple of years ago, I bought a beautiful diamond pendant for my very satisfied wife. I have a diamond and ruby ring on order for our wedding anniversary. Maybe I will report back here sometime.
I hope Clive goes from strength to strength. ((And for those who think the name is too common for their taste - it is completely memorable!!)”
by jack Unit, Cheshire
Thursday, July 31 2008, 1:56PM
“Yes very clever - do you know how much a 30 second TV ad costs? He received 10-15 mins at Zero cost!!!
He had no intention of accepting this was all about getting his brand out there, there's so many people on Dragons Den who go on that show just to get their idea out there...
Entertaining, but his intentions were as clear as glass.”
by Karl K, London
Wednesday, July 30 2008, 5:09PM
“Not smart. His website is fairly pathetic and online diamond business arent' that great. Profit margins on diamonds are almost none due the fact that this is a most competitive business sector in online jewellery retail.”
by Ian, Glous.
Wednesday, July 30 2008, 3:16PM
“Remember PROFIT is after wages, bonuses and dividends. Shareholders of a family run company can opt to take ALL profits as dividends if they wish. Obviously viewers can only base their opinions on the edited version of the TV show, i.e. what they see, but there is always a bigger picture. This guy knew his business and let's not forget that the 3 strongest Dragons wanted a BIG bit of it for LITTLE money, I bet there was a lot more to it than we saw.”
by jane, bourton
Wednesday, July 30 2008, 1:44PM
“i think his shop is utter rubbish, and the lady serving behind the counter was very pretentious, and what an idiot for turning down such a great offer,”
by tim, cheltenham
Wednesday, July 30 2008, 1:44PM
“pre-tax profits of £3,243 last year despite having run an internet business for 20 years.!
Should have took the money !”
by Rebecca, Tewkesbury
Wednesday, July 30 2008, 12:57PM
“Good on him. If the Dragons were will to ofer the money then there are bound to be other options available with more bargaining room. Good Luck.”
by Guy Fawkes, Gloucester
Wednesday, July 30 2008, 12:53PM
“Good for Clive, these so called entrepreneurs wanted far too much, but remember the programme is edited to make the Dragons look good, and most of the people looking for funds as brainless idiots.”