Dragons’ Den viewers say they have been ‘put off watching’ the BBC show after a private landlord secured an investment for his thermostat business which stopped tenants from being able to have their heating on.
Anthony Cherry, a landlord from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, presented the Dragons with his TIME:O:STAT invention on Thursday night’s episode.
The TIME:O:STAT is controlled by the tenants but 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.
Mr Cherry, who has invested in student houses and holiday homes for 20 years – particularly student houses – claimed his idea would ‘save the landlord time and energy’.
But after he secured an £80,000 investment from entrepreneur 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 gained an £80,000 investment for his thermostat business – but viewers branded it as ‘evil’
One wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Absolutely hate that some awful HMO landlord was on #DragonsDen flogging his thermostat that only allows tenants some heating if they press a button (and for not very long).
‘And none of the dragons thought it was s***y?! Kind of put me off the whole programme.’
Another added: ‘What an evil idea. Can’t keep the heating on through a cold night unless the greedy landlord permits it.’
A third said: ‘Touker has invested in a landlord who wants to control how often his tenants have the heating on. Not cool,’ while a fourth added: ‘Why is nobody pointing out the HUGE moral issue with this stupid thermostat??
‘How dare he dictate what temperature his paying tenants keep their houses at. I assume they’re all insulated to the highest standards, right?’
Speaking to the Dragons, Mr Cherry said they were designed for houses in multiple occupation, where landlords often offer rent inclusive of bills.
A house is described as a house in multiple occupation (or HMO) when at least three tenants, who are not in a relationship or related, live there and share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants.
‘It was on a maintenance call where I noticed there was a problem,’ he said.
‘It was a hot sunny day and the tenants weren’t home but the heating was on full blast and the windows were wide open.
‘When I spoke to the tenants, they said that the thermostat was too complicated so they left the heating running continuously. When I looked at the thermostat, I completely understood what they were trying to say.
‘So I decided to make something bespoke.’
The TIME:O:STAT is controlled by the tenants but means the heating can only stay on for two hours at a time
Anthony Cherry, a House of Multiple Occupants landlord from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, appeared on Thursday night’s episode
He initially asked for an £80,000 investment in return for a 10 per cent stake in his business.
He said his thermostat business aimed to simplify the process of heating houses, as tenants could press the + button in the left hand corner to add more time if needed.
The idea aims to control how long the heating is left on for – but tenants can choose to turn it on again at any time.
Sara Davies agreed that thermostats are too complicated, saying: ‘I remember being at university and could never work the thermostat.
‘It’s just different to the other ones – there’s still a load of buttons and a load 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 the 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 property investor Souker made Cherry a last-minute deal – but wanted a 35 per cent return in the business, dropping to 25 if he made his money back.
Property investor Souker made him a last-minute deal – but wanted a 35 per cent return in the business, dropping to 25 if he made his money back
Viewers were left shocked that the Dragons had promoted such an ‘evil idea’
After a tense negotiation, Cherry was offered the full £80,000 – and Souker agreed to a 20 per cent stake in the business if he received a return on his investment.
Speaking to the camera after exiting the room, Cherry said: ‘That was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Amazing tense, scary, nerve-wracking. Wow.’
Last week, Steven Bartlett left his fellow entrepreneurs seeing red after striking a lightning-fast deal with a trail-running business.
But he has also been branded ‘out of touch’ by viewers this series after talking about being sent PR packages by companies.
Dragons’ Den continues next Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.
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