Dragons' Den brothers proud after winning investment for inclusivity socks

What did you miss?

Two brothers who successfully won investment for their Stand Out Socks inclusivity brand on Dragons' Den have revealed how special they have been made to feel. Christian and Ross Laing have started working with business entrepreneurs Peter Jones and Stephen Bartlett after a successful pitch on the show. The brothers appeared on BBC Breakfast and Ross said he was feeling "brilliant, amazing and proud" of his family's achievement.

What, how, and why?

Ross, who was born with Down Syndrome, launched Stand Out Socks with brother Christian in 2021 to raise awareness of disability inclusion and contribute to creating job opportunities for those with learning disabilities.

The brothers appeared on the first episode of the latest series of Dragons' Den and received competing investment offers from four of the dragons - Jones, Bartlett, Touker Suleyman and Sara Davies. They triumphed after accepting a joint investment from eccentric sock-fan Jones and youngest dragon Bartlett of £15k each in return for a 12.5 per cent stake each.

Christian revealed on BBC Breakfast: "We've been down to see them and obviously they're very busy guys, They have fantastic teams behind them that we can tap into when we need them. We've been round to Stephen's office which was ace."

Ross revealed: "They all cheered, clapping us! He added that made him feel: "Brilliant, amazing and proud. Us, our family."

It has become traditional to wear bright socks on National Down Syndrome Day on 21 March to raise awareness for the condition, as the shape of socks symbolise the shape of the extra pair of chromosomes people with down syndrome have.

Stand Out Socks is a brand of eccentric coloured and patterned socks worn to raise awareness, and also promote offering employment to those with learning disabilities.

Christian revealed: "Ross is a shareholder in the company now, which is amazing, to go from the back of my mum and dad's unit to where we are today." He went on: "Hopefully through what we do we can change people's opinions and knock a few doors down and people can take it on to their own industry.

"When people buy our socks - we have two staff now which is amazing. Martha and Oliver, which we're dead proud of and they work part-time in paid roes with us. So not only are you buying into us, you're buying into starting conversations."

Dragons' Den series 21 is currently airing on BBC One on Thursday evenings at 8pm.

BBC Breakfast airs BBC One from 6am to 9am, Monday to Friday.

Read more: Dragons' Den

• The most successful products from Dragons Den (Bradford Telegraph and Argus, 3 min read)

• Dragons' Den: Who are the Dragons on the BBC show?

• Dragons' Den viewers call Steven Bartlett a 'pushover'