Dragons' Den star backing Oundle housing development

Jenny Campbell with son Tom at the development site in Oundle

A TV personality has revealed her latest investment - a £2.6m Oundle housing development with her son.

Former Dragons’ Den star Jenny Campbell, 58, has launched a business partnership with Tom, 27.

Two detached homes and three terraced houses will now be built on the plot of land which will become Athena Way.

Togethers Jonathan Sally, Jenny Campbell, Collin Russon and Tom Campbell on site

Cheadle-based lender Together agreed to provide a £1.22m facility for the project, which is due to be completed in 2021.

Tom said: “This finance has helped us seize a great opportunity. It’s been a dream of mine to build houses since as long as I can remember. My great-great grandfather and his father were in the construction trade and I’ve been really inspired by that.

“The business partnership with my mum is working really well and we are already looking at other projects to take on after we’ve completed the current housing development.”

Multi-millionaire Jenny and Tom partnered with builder Collin Russon under the name Russon-Campbell Developments. They bought a plot of land with family money but were looking for a commercial partner to provide funding to complete the housing scheme.

Jenny, who spent two seasons on the BBC’s flagship reality business show, admitted they had initially struggled to access to the quick finance they wanted to complete the project.

She said: “We went to two high street lenders but it was hard to get the finance we wanted quickly. They had very formal processes and a ‘tick box’ approach to follow before they’d release the funding.

“What we were looking for was a more hands-on approach from a lender who wanted to understand our business and our plans for the scheme, as well as build a long-term relationship with Tom as a funding partner for future projects.”

Jonathan Sally, lending director at Together, said: “When this case came to us, we saw huge potential. Jenny has a fantastic business reputation and we were very confident that this, backed up by Collin’s experience and Tom’s passion, will make the project a roaring success.”

Jenny joined Dragons’ Den in 2017 alongside Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Tej Lalvani and Touker Souleman, investing her money in five companies.