Simon Woodroffe - Entrepreneur

Simon is the creator of YO! Sushi and he was an original Dragon in the premiere series of BBC’s Dragons’ Den.  His early career was spent on the road with the likes of Rod Stewart and The Moody Blues before becoming a stage designer.  After a spell in television, he conceived and launched YO! Sushi in 1997, a conveyor belt sushi bar featuring call buttons, robot drinks trolleys, Japanese TV, self-heating plates and other such novelties.  In 2003, Simon sold his controlling interest in YO! Sushi in a £10m deal, backed by private equity firm Primary Capital but initially kept a 22% stake.

Simon received an OBE in 2006 and along with Gerard Greene went on to create YOTEL, the world's most radical hotel.  A 669-room YOTEL opened in central New York in the Summer of 2011 followed by Singapore and Boston.  San Francisco opened in 2018 and by 2020, YOTEL will operate 14 hotels across 6 countries and 3 continents.

YO! Home, Simon’s re-invention of the city apartment launched at 100% Design in September 2012 and is still in progress.  And what about the original, YO! Sushi? It has opened 100 restaurants serving 6 million customers per year.  That’s a LOT of sushi!