Red Letter - Into the Red - How a gift company fell to earth

John Swinfield's Big Business

SYNOPSIS

INTO THE RED: how a gift company fell to earth

A high number of different businesses have gone bust lately, many being the victims of Covid. But life in business has always been precarious with more stories of calamity than success.
Way before the pandemic Red Letter Days was a small British company which took off but subsequently failed. In its hey-day, with its founder Rachel Elnaugh at the helm, customers could send presents and surprise events to lucky recipients. The firm prospered and grew.
At one time Elnaugh was a regular adviser on BBC TV’s Dragon’s Den, sitting alongside entrepreneurial giants such as Peter Jones, the hi-tech titan. On one occasion she had to face a grilling by Anne Robinson on another TV show, Watchdog, a consumer affairs series. John Swinfield recalls how he tried to help Elnaugh when the consumer champion Anne ‘the Rottweiler’ Robinson made contact with her.