Piers Linney from Dragons' Den

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Jonathan Piers Daniel Linney MBE (born 15 February 1971) is a British entrepreneur and investor, best known for his role as a Dragon on the BBC Two business series Dragons’ Den from 2013 to 2015. He joined the panel for the eleventh series alongside Kelly Hoppen, replacing Hilary Devey and Theo Paphitis, and departed at the end of the twelfth series in 2015.

Dragons’ Den During Piers Linney’s Tenure (2013–2015)

The Dragons who appeared alongside Linney across series 11 and 12 were:

Peter Jones CBE — original dragon since 2005.
Deborah Meaden — dragon since 2006.
Duncan Bannatyne OBE — dragon from 2005 to 2015.
Kelly Hoppen MBE — joined in series 11 (2013) alongside Linney.
Piers Linney MBE — series 11 and 12 (2013–2015).

Linney departed at the end of series twelve in 2015 alongside Hoppen and Bannatyne. They were replaced by Nick Jenkins, Touker Suleyman, and Sarah Willingham for the thirteenth series.

Piers Linney: Career Summary

Linney was born in Stoke-on-Trent and moved to Bacup, Lancashire at the age of nine. He has Bajan (Barbadian) and English heritage. After studying law and accounting at the University of Manchester, he qualified as a solicitor with SJ Berwin before moving into investment banking at Barclays de Zoete Wedd and later Credit Suisse.

He left banking in 2000 to pursue technology entrepreneurship. In 2007, alongside business partner Simon Newton, he led the buyout of Genesis Communications, a UK mobile voice and data reseller. The company acquired Thus Mobile from Cable & Wireless in 2009 and rebranded as Outsourcery, pivoting toward cloud-based IT and unified communications. The mobile arm was sold to Daisy Group in 2012, and Outsourcery floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2013, raising £13 million. The business was sold for an undisclosed sum in June 2016, with the company subsequently placed into administration.

Linney is Co-Founder of Implement AI, an AI-agent business launched in 2023, and leads Moblox, which provides technology tools for small and medium-sized businesses. He has previously served as a non-executive director of the British Business Bank, a founding member of the Governance Board of the UK’s Cloud Industry Forum, and a member of the Cabinet Office SME Panel.

He is a founding trustee of the Powerlist Foundation, and a trustee of the innovation charity Nesta and the careers website Plotr. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to small business, entrepreneurs, investors, banking, diversity, and social mobility.

On Dragons’ Den

Linney made eight investments across his two series as a Dragon, of which four completed after filming. His largest single investment was £100,000. His most successful pitch was Lost My Name (now Wonderbly), a personalised children’s book company in which he initially invested £100,000 for a 5% stake.

He also appeared on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire in 2011, where he went undercover in Wolverhampton and worked at a young offenders’ institution.