Deborah Meaden

People shouldn't choose their careers on whether it's cool or not. They should choose their careers on, 'Are they good at it, do they love it, is it going to give them a good life?' ”

My friends would say I'm not the person to go to for tea, a cuddle and sympathy, because I can't deliver. But if you want something sorted out and need a champion who will stand by your side, that is me. ”

You don't have to start with your dream job, and your idea of what the dream job might be will change during a working life that will have its share of ups and downs, setbacks and advances. ”

I'm not scared of many sectors, so if you look at my investment portfolio, it is pretty wide. I've invested in anything from market research firms to fashion houses and textile companies. ”

I don't like anything with too much dependency. Children are very dependent, which is probably why we never had them. ”

I care a lot about animal welfare and children. Although I don't have children myself. ”

I don't actually like dogs smelling of anything other than natural dogs. ”

I think Cate Blanchett always gets it right. She seems very natural and wears interesting but not ridiculous clothes - she seems to push the boundaries just enough. ”

We have a very good history of manufacturing in this country but I worry that these skills are being lost. We walk around saying, 'We haven't got any manufacturing any more' but Made In Britain really means something, particularly in other parts of the world. We need to support British manufacturing. ”

I often see people who I think could be really successful in business but they just don't realise they have the skills and they don't believe in themselves. ”