AN ENTREPRENEUR who was thrown out of TV’s Dragons’ Den has proven the millionaire investors wrong by opening her first shop.

Five years ago, Marneta Viegas was told she might be “cuckoo” when she pitched her range of relaxation CDs for children to five super-rich business gurus on the hit BBC show.

Now the former children’s entertainer from Nuneham Courtenay is selling her products throughout the world and opens her first store in Woodstock at the weekend.

Mrs Viegas, 42, set up Relax Kids after becoming worried seeing increasingly hyperactive behaviour during her work as a children’s entertainer in London.

Using her knowledge of yoga, drama and storytelling, and funded with inheritance money, she developed storybook CDs to calm children and help them sleep.

In the company’s infancy, she appeared on the second series of Dragon’s Den, making a unique pitch in the style of one of her fairytales.

She said: “I had just won a business award giving me free office accommodation, and replied to an email about the programme.

“Before I knew it, I was stood in front of the Dragons. I had not really prepared, and did not really know much about business.”

Her chances of investment ended abruptly when she told the multi-millionaires, including Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, that her fledgling business was a social enterprise, and she did not want to make a fortune.

The Dragons refused to invest in a business not geared to make money, with gym magnate Duncan Bannatyne asking whether Mrs Viegas was “lovely or cuckoo?”

She said: “They did not really understand what I was trying to do, and I did not put it across well enough.

“But now I think I have proven them 100 per cent wrong.”

Half a decade on, she has produced 13 relaxation CDs for children of all ages, and Relax Kids classes are taught in USA, Dubai, South Africa, Holland and Spain.

The company moves into its new headquarters in Market Place, Woodstock, on Saturday.

Mrs Viegas, whose husband Stuart Hall is now managing director of the company, said: “If we had a huge amount of money to invest, the business could be fantastic.

“But over time, we have grown the company, and when we have the funds, I make another CD.

“It has grown organically, and I like it that way because it feels less scary.”

She added: “When I started the business, I did not realise all the issues around child anxiety and behaviour problems.

“Now I know one in 10 children suffer anxiety or mental health issues, and I really believe if children learn to relax, sit down and be still, these techniques will help them.”