Simon Woodroffe is an English motivational speaker and entrepreneur. He started the sushi chain YO! Sushi in 1997, and appeared as a "Dragon" on the first UK series of Dragons' Den. Woodroffe conceived and launched YO! Sushi after an early spell in television. The business established conveyor belt sushi bars featuring call buttons, robot drinks trolleys, Japanese TV, self heating plates and other such novelties. He currently speaks around the world at corporate and promotional events, and has appeared on stage at the Edinburgh Festival to discuss his YO! ventures including YO! Company. Woodroffe received an OBE on 17 June 2006.
Early life
Woodroffe was born in Oxford in 1952. His father was an army officer and reached the rank of brigadier. His brother Patrick was born in 1954. The family lived in a five-bedroom detached farmhouse in Essex. Woodroffe left Marlborough College towards the end of the 1960s, at the age of 16, with 2 O-levels.
Business career
Woodroffe founded YO! Sushi in 1997 without the need for start-up capital. At the time that his first restaurant opened, despite its popularity, he was unable to obtain financing from banks. Instead, Woodroffe asked his largest supplier for extended terms to pay off his debt. The company had believed YO! Sushi would be a "safe bet" because it had the support of Honda, Sony, and All Nippon Airways. In a 2008 interview, Woodroffe revealed that in fact those three companies had provided only very limited sponsorship for the business: some cheap televisions and a motorcycle. In September 2003, Woodroffe sold his controlling interest in YO! Sushi in a £10m deal, backed by private equity firmPrimary Capital. Woodroffe retained a 22% stake and continued working as a business entrepreneur, also taking time to present TV programmes. Primary Capital has since sold YO! Sushi. Woodroffe has sold his remaining stake, but is entitled to a royalty of 1% of gross sales in perpetuity. In 2008, Woodroffe diversified his business portfolio by launching the YOTEL brand of airport and city hotels.
''Dragons' Den''
Woodroffe appeared on the first series of Dragons' Den. However, after only one series of the programme, he left the panel. Woodroffe stated that the reason behind his departure was: "The show became a battle of egos — not a forum for business innovation. The thing to remember was that when you walk up the stairs to pitch, it’s not five people necessarily thinking, 'How am I going to be able to make an investment here?', they’re also thinking, 'Am I going to be the star of this next little piece?'. That's not how I was told the show would go down."
