Dad who built kids a 'Love Island' glamping pod in garden brought to tears after huge offer on BBC Dragons' Den

A dad-of-two who built a glamping pod for his kids as a lockdown project was left in tears after receiving a huge offer on BBC's Dragons' Den. Derry Green, 41, appeared on the programme on Thursday night (January 11) to pitch his business expansion idea to the five dragons; Deborah Meaden, Peter Jone, Sara Davies, Steven Bartlett and Touker Suleyman.

The DIY-savvy dad told the dragons how he found himself at a loose end back in 2020 when his European transport company could no longer operate due to Covid. In a bid to keep himself busy, and distract his kids from the pandemic, the crafty father built a Love Island villa-style glamping pod complete with a fire pit, hot tub and sauna in his back garden.

What started out as an idea for his children soon turned into a business venture, as Derry transformed the four acres of woodland behind his property in Lancashire into a huge luxury glamping site - and The Secret Garden Glamping was born.

READ MORE: 'I stayed at a luxury glamping site and felt like I was in the Love Island villa’

"One night in lockdown we camped out in the back garden and it was great, but waking up on wet grass wasn’t very exciting. So the next day I built a decking and then each day I just built a bit more with the kids," Derry previously told the Manchester Evening News.

"As the lockdown days turned into weeks and then into months, by the end of it I’d built a full glamping pod with an outdoor area. It cost me about £6,000 to build in total."

"A journalist contacted me asking if they could do a story on what I’d built, the story went ballistic and then people started contacting me from everywhere asking if they could book it for a holiday," Derry recalled.

"At the time it felt crazy, I thought 'why