Rachel Elnaugh, chief executive of retailer easyart.com and founder of gift firm Red Letter Days, criticised the media for its merciless coverage of her downfall after Red Letter Days went into administration in August.
She said there was a common view among the public that making money was an ‘evil thing’ and claimed Red Letter Days had generated far too much negative publicity after collapsing with losses of £4.7m.
However, CBI director-general, Sir Digby Jones, astutely pointed out to CBI conference delegates that the coverage she received may have been because Elnaugh is a judge on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den reality TV show.