Dragons’ Den viewers say they have been “disheartened” from watching the BBC show after a private landlord secured an investment in his thermostat business which prevented tenants from being able to keep their heating on.
Anthony Cherry, a landlord from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, introduced the Dragons to his TIME:O:STAT invention on Thursday night’s episode.
TIME:O:STAT is controlled by tenants, but it means the heating can only stay on for two hours at a time. Tenants can also choose a “comfort mode” of up to eight hours with a lower temperature, but cannot choose to run the heating continuously.
Cherry, who has invested in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) for 20 years, especially student houses, said his idea would “save the owner time and energy”.
But after securing an £80,000 investment from businessman Touker Suleyman, in return for a 20 per cent stake if he got his money back, viewers were left shocked that the Dragons had promoted such an “evil idea”.
Anthony Cherry secured £80,000 investment for his thermostat business – but viewers branded him “evil”.
One wrote on
‘And none of the dragons thought it was shit?! I kind of became discouraged by the whole program.
Another added: ‘What a bad idea. I can’t keep the heat on during a cold night unless the greedy landlord allows it.
A third said: ‘Touker has invested in a landlord who wants to control how often his tenants turn on the heating. Not right,” while a fourth added: “Why doesn’t anyone point out the HUGE moral problem with this stupid thermostat?
‘How dare you dictate the temperature at which paying tenants keep their homes?’ I guess everyone is insulated to the highest standards, right?
Speaking to the Dragons, Cherry said: “It was on a maintenance call where I noticed there was a problem.”
“It was a hot, sunny day and the tenants were not home, but the heating was on full blast and the windows were wide open.
‘When I spoke to the tenants, they told me the thermostat was too complicated and they left the heating on continuously. When I looked at the thermostat, I completely understood what they meant.
“So I decided to do something custom.”
TIME:O:STAT is controlled by tenants, but it means the heating can only stay on for two hours at a time.
Anthony Cherry, owner of a multi-occupant house from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, appeared on Thursday night’s episode.
He initially asked for an investment of £80,000 in exchange for a 10 per cent stake in his business.
He said his thermostat business aimed to simplify the process of heating homes, as tenants could press the + button in the left corner to add more time if needed.
The idea aims to control how long the heating is left on, but tenants can choose to turn it back on at any time.
Sara Davies agreed that thermostats are too complicated, saying: ‘I remember being at university and I could never get the thermostat to work.
“It’s just different from the others: there are still a lot of buttons and a lot of options, and even that is more complicated than it needs to be.”
After first launching in 2016 and being redesigned three times, Cherry impressed the team when he said TIME:O:STAT made a net profit of £93,000 in 2023.
But at a purchase cost of £169.99 or £229.99 for each thermostat – compared to £20 for an average model – Deborah Meaden backed out of a deal due to the high capital expenditure.
Sara Davies, Peter Jones and Stephen Bartlett also said they were out due to alternatives on the market, such as Nest.
But real estate investor Souker made a deal with Cherry at the last minute, but wanted a 35 percent return on the deal, dropping to 25 percent if he got his money back.
Real estate investor Souker made him a last-minute deal, but he wanted a 35 percent return on the business, dropping to 25 percent if he got his money back.
Viewers were shocked that the Dragons had promoted such an “evil idea.”
After tense negotiation, Cherry was offered the full £80,000, with Souker agreeing to a 20 per cent stake in the business if he received a return on his investment.
Speaking to camera after leaving the room, Cherry said: ‘That was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Incredibly tense, scary and stressful. Wow.’
Last week, Steven Bartlett left his fellow entrepreneurs in the red after striking a lightning-quick deal with a trail running company.
But viewers of this series have also branded him “out of touch” after speaking out about companies sending him PR packages.
Dragons’ Den continues next Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.