Sarah Louise Willingham (born 20 December 1973) is a British entrepreneur, serial investor, founder and CEO of Nightcap, with extensive experience in the

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

industry.

Education

Willingham has two business degrees from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

and the . In 2004 she completed an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the Cranfield University School of Management. Willingham attended Newcastle-under-Lyme School during high school located in her home town of Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire.

Career

Businesses

Willingham spent the early years of her career managing some restaurants including Chessageed Delights, Planet Hollywood and Pizza Express. In partnership with The Clapham House Group, she bought The Bombay Bicycle Club in 2004, and expanded the company, making it the largest

Indian restaurant Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally av ...

chain in the United Kingdom. Willingham sold her share back to The Clapham House Group in 2007 where she continued as a main board director responsible for three of their four brands (Tootsies, The Real Greek and The Bombay Bicycle Club) with over 50 restaurants and more than 1,500 employees. In 2004, Willingham co-established an AIM-listed company, Neutrahealth plc, which acquired six businesses in the vitamin and mineral supplements industry and was sold to Indian company Elder Pharmaceuticals Ltd in 2011. In April 2008, she co-established a private equity platform in the UK. In 2010, Willingham invested in the London Cocktail Club. The first cocktail bar opened in 2011 on Goodge Street, London. In February 2012 the London Cocktail Club added their second cocktail bar on Shaftesbury Avenue, Their third opened in Great Portland Street, London in 2013. ''Management Today'' named her as one of the "35 most successful women under 35" in the UK. In January 2016, Willingham was named one of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

500 Most Influential people in Britain. In 2017 Willingham received an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University and in 2018 she received honorary doctorates from Cranfield University and

in recognition of her contribution to business and entrepreneurship. In 2021 Willingham, with husband Michael, founded bar group Nightcap PLC. The company was previously listed on AIM and was a "one to watch" in 2021. In 2023 Sarah won Business Leader of the Year at the Publican Awards. In 2025 Sarah and her husband Michael acquired Brighton's iconic tower the i360 out of administration.

Television

Willingham was a restaurant inspector and investor on three series of Raymond Blanc's '' The Restaurant'' and as an independent investor on the

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

television series ''Cooks to Market''. She has appeared on various TV programmes, including GMB, ''

This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * ''CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succes ...

'', BBC Breakfast, GB News, ITV News and

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

. In March 2015, Willingham was named as one of the new "Dragons" on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television programme ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it ...

'' from the thirteenth series which began airing in July 2015. She returned to ''Dragons' Den'' for the fourteenth series, beginning in July 2016. She appeared for two seasons. In September 2016, Willingham took part in a celebrity episode of '' The Chase''.

Personal life

Sarah and her husband Michael live in Brighton and London with their four children.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willingham, Sarah 1973 births Living people The Restaurant (British TV series) British restaurateurs Women restaurateurs Alumni of Cranfield University People from Stoke-on-Trent People educated at Newcastle-under-Lyme School Dragons' Den