Who is Susie Ma? The skincare brand owner on Dragons’ Den tonight and what her return means for founders
Under the studio lights for episode 6, susie ma takes her place as a guest Dragon alongside four established investors, as a fresh slate of entrepreneurs step forward with practical, lived-in ideas. The line-up for tonight ranges from a nose-friendly home composter to a GP’s luxury medical bag redesign, a DIY drinks business and a pre-loved interiors venture.
Who is Susie Ma?
Susie Ma is introduced this series as a guest Dragon. She is the founder of Tropic Skincare, a business that first found fame on The Apprentice and has grown turnover to £100m ahead of her appearances in the Den this series. She joins Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Steven Bartlett and Touker Suleyman on the panel for episode 6.
What pitches will viewers see tonight?
The episode’s entrepreneurs present four distinct concepts. First, Catherine Fernando, a GP, will pitch a redesigned medical bag aimed at women in healthcare sold as a luxury item; the bags, called Iyasu, use vegan-friendly leather and linings made from recycled plastic bottles, with a starting price of £275. Second is Ben McGirr, founder of Kompo, who launched a countertop food composter in 2025. The Kompo device is described as drying and grinding kitchen scraps into an odour-free material using a dual charcoal filter, priced at £249, consuming the equivalent of 20p of electricity per cycle, and claiming to reduce food waste volume by up to 80% in four to eight hours.
The third pitch comes from Phil and Helen Lord, whose business Rehome, founded in 2015, resells pre-loved kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms at discounted prices for homeowners, interior designers and retailers. Closing the set is Gordon Leatherdale, pitching two businesses including Natural & Noble, launched in 2019, which offers home infusion sets for flavoured spirits and cocktail kits branded for drinks such as espresso martini and piña colada.
What does this mix signal for small founders?
The episode presents practical, product-led businesses that bridge household needs and lifestyle choices: sustainability in home composting; a design-led approach for a healthcare tool; circular economy retail for interiors; and home cocktail experiences. The presence of an entrepreneur-turned-investor like Susie Ma on the panel underscores an interest in founders who scale consumer brands from niche beginnings to significant turnover. Tonight’s pitches test product-market fit, price points and the ability of founders to explain technical claims and value propositions to investors.
Viewers can follow pitch-by-pitch coverage from 8pm ET as each entrepreneur outlines commercial claims, pricing and the problem they aim to solve for customers. The range of businesses — from Kompo’s countertop technology to Rehome’s secondhand interiors model — places both sustainability and lifestyle convenience at the centre of the conversation.
As the Dragons assess scalability, margins and customer demand, the episode casts an evidentiary light on how different consumer needs intersect with investment appetite. The inclusion of a founder who scaled Tropic Skincare to large turnover offers a specific lens on brand-building and retail growth for competitors and hopefuls watching tonight.
Back under the lights where the evening began, susie ma’s return closes the loop on a season that foregrounds founders turning everyday problems into businesses. Whether the entrepreneurs secure deals or leave with feedback, the moment highlights the practical choices and hard numbers entrepreneurs must present when ambition meets scrutiny — and it leaves viewers with a sense of what commercial success looks like in practice.
