Tej Lalvani, the Dragons' Den star, has sold the family vitamins business Vitabiotics for £900m. The Indian-born entrepreneur joined the company straight from university 20 years ago, starting at the bottom by sticking labels on boxes in the warehouse. He became chief operating officer in 2008 and chief executive in 2015, helping to grow the firm into a £300m enterprise.
Vitabiotics was founded in 1971 by Tej's father, Kartar Lalvani, a pharmacist. The company sells well-known brands such as Wellman, Perfectil and Pregnacare in over 100 countries. It remained fiercely independent, with no outside investors, business loans or overdrafts, at a time when rivals like Seven Seas, Centrum and Berocca are owned by giant pharmaceutical firms.
Tej, who now lives in London, faced a turbulent childhood after his parents divorced when he was eight. He moved between the UK and India until he was 16, attending eight different schools. Despite joining the family business, he insists he received no special treatment, saying his father was harder on him than on most employees.
As chief executive, Tej reads every customer email personally and oversees all marketing, including the Wellman campaign featuring model David Gandy. However, the company has faced scrutiny from the Advertising Standards Authority, which made seven formal rulings against it since 2012. Tej described the cases as involving technicalities, noting that no issues have been upheld for several years.
From 2012 to 2016, sales in Vitabiotics' UK operations grew from £76m to £120m, and the firm employs around 100 staff at its London headquarters. The sale marks a significant exit for the Lalvani family, who built the business over nearly five decades.
