Lancashire’s Northern Pasta Co to pitch for investment on Dragons’ Den

Lancashire food brand Northern Pasta Co will appear on Dragons’ Den in search of investment for a new production facility and new jobs in the North of England.

Co-founders Imogen Royall and Matt Kenyon will present their spelt pasta, made from British-grown grain, when the episode airs at 8pm on BBC One on Thursday 17 September.

The husband-and-wife team set up the business to make pasta without harming the environment, soil health or personal wellbeing.

Its pasta is made from regeneratively grown British spelt using traditional slow bronze extrusion at the company’s Lancashire headquarters.

The couple hope backing from one or more of the Dragons will help fund a new production facility and further jobs in the North as the brand moves to its next stage of growth.

Royall said: “It’s such an exciting feeling knowing that those who tune in are about to see one of the biggest moments of our brand journey. We’ve been counting down the days, and we’re just so grateful for the experience. We can’t wait for our community to discover which of the Dragons love our pasta as much as they do.”

Dragons’ Den was first broadcast in 2005 and gives entrepreneurs the chance to pitch to a panel of investors in return for a stake in their businesses.

The programme has long-standing ties to the North. Since 2012 it has been made at dock10 at MediaCity in Salford, and it has also used Manchester’s Old Granada Studios and Space Studios in Gorton.

Its opening sequence has used images of Manchester’s industrial heritage, including mills in Ancoats, and Dragon Steven Bartlett started out in business in the city, where he co-founded social media company Social Chain.