Deborah Meaden

I don't spend a lot of time worrying about how I look and I don't fall into the trap of judging myself by my appearance.

I'm not great at taking compliments because I always find the thing I could do better.

Peter Jones is hot.

I'm not particularly tactile.

My friends would say I'm not the person to go to for tea, a cuddle and sympathy, because I can't deliver. But if you want something sorted out and need a champion who will stand by your side, that is me.

I care a lot about animal welfare and children. Although I don't have children myself.

I am terrible. When I buy stuff, I want it straight away. If it says two to three weeks delivery - no way. I will find somewhere that will deliver it that afternoon.

I'm deeply impatient. If I can't park directly in front of somewhere, I go home.

I would have liked children, but I am not all disappointed. I've had a lot of stuff thrown at me in life so I don't dwell on it.

I am a very loyal person and believe that people should be treated fairly in life.

When I first started on 'Dragons' Den,' I was under pressure to buy flashy cars and boats but I resisted.

I was never good at taking instructions.

I look in the mirror and see lines, but I have earned those lines. It has taken me 59 years to get them and I am not losing them now.

The minute I think 'Oh God, I don't want to do this because I'm scared,' is the moment I have to do something, whatever it is.

I am proud of the fact I would never tamper with my looks. I love the fact I have earned every line and wrinkle.

I did ballroom dancing at school, but I was atrocious.

I'm always asked about how women get on in the boardroom and my answer is always, 'Never acknowledge that you are a woman. Your gender is not the point.'

I'm not looking for hobbies, I'm looking for investments.

I don't actually like dogs smelling of anything other than natural dogs.

Running the country is like running one big business.

As a young woman, before I had any money, I went backpacking across India, and I was aware of how gritty it could be.

But it's no good letting your emotions get the better of you.

People have to understand that they're not good at everything.

You need to tell people where they stand. If someone's done a good job, you should tell them they've done damn well. But if they haven't, you should take the same attitude.

Loving something doesn't make it a good investment.

My first paid job was leading pony rides along Minehead seafront when I was eight. I probably got paid sixpence - not much but I loved horses and it gave me a great chance to be near them.

I am a more rounded person than you see on television. You don't bark your way to being a success.

I don't like anything with too much dependency. Children are very dependent, which is probably why we never had them.

I often see people who I think could be really successful in business but they just don't realise they have the skills and they don't believe in themselves.

I think the thing about business is that it's not completely separate to life. You're selling to people so it's all about life skills - and common sense.

People shouldn't choose their careers on whether it's cool or not. They should choose their careers on, 'Are they good at it, do they love it, is it going to give them a good life?'

If someone needs help, I don't do tea and sympathy, but I'm honest and practical - that's how I was brought up.

The one thing I say, I will invest in anything - I don't care what it is - as long as it doesn't cut across my ethical code, because at the end of the day I want to be able to live with myself. I want to feel proud of what I do.

I won't get involved in businesses that I think cut across any kind of animal welfare issues.

When I sold Weststar Holidays, the idea was to take stock and stop and then decide in life - we were going to travel around the world or whatever we were going to do. After about two weeks my husband said to me, 'Oh for goodness sake Deborah, get yourself a business because this is driving me bonkers.'

Nearly everybody, when they first meet me, seems to have this sense of trepidation.

People can be very serious with me, and expect me to be very businesslike all the time. So I have to help them get over that by showing them that I enjoy life.

I think I'm absolutely perfect. Because if I'm not good at something I completely banish it from my mind. Completely. Like it never happened.

Dragons' Den' is about as close to real business as you can get on television.

My parents felt I should earn my money because I would then value it. So they would pay me a shilling or two to do jobs such as washing the car, cleaning and washing up.

Both my parents were entrepreneurs and built a nice leisure business. But money was tight when I was growing up.

It is what you can do with your money that matters because money has no value in itself.

We have a very good history of manufacturing in this country but I worry that these skills are being lost. We walk around saying, 'We haven't got any manufacturing any more' but Made In Britain really means something, particularly in other parts of the world. We need to support British manufacturing.

It can be difficult to find investment for a new business, particularly one which is highly innovative or breaks new ground.

Business doesn't cut you any slack because of your gender. You're either good at what you do or you're not.

I didn't want to get married.

I don't exactly know the moment that I was a millionaire but it was in my twenties.

You can't beat a bar of chocolate between cheap white bread - there is nothing like it.

I don't cook at all, and whenever my husband Paul goes away he leaves meals for me and I can't even be bothered to put them in the oven.

I'm not a woman in the 'Den,' I'm a Dragon, we're all there to invest, it has nothing to do with gender.