Camberwell and Brixton duo who met at a teenage party in Bromley will try to sell their grown-up summer camp business idea on Dragon’s Den tonight

When Lee Denny held a party in his garden while his parents were away, he started on a route which will take him to The Dragon’s Den tonight.

He staged “LeeFest”, aged 16, for his friends – and a band, Keston Cobblers Club, were asked to play that night.

One of its members was Julia Lowe, from Leander Road, Brixton, and their friendship, which started that day, spawned the idea of a summer holiday camp for adults.

They formed a company Camp Wildfire – and tonight, very much more grown up, they will try and sell the concept and the company to the vipers of the hit cut-throat BBC entrepreneurs’ face-off contest – dressed in suitable scout-style garb.

Lee, now of Grove Lane, Camberwell, and Julia, living nearby in Barnet Drive at the time, also grew up near each other in Bromley – and it was in that borough that they met at Leefest, in Monks Orchard Road in Beckenham.

The duo will pitch their business to Dragons Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett, as they seek investment in their unique summer camp for adults, Camp Wildfire and accompanying family event, Camp Kindling.

Adventure by day, party by night, Camp Wildfire takes place over two weekends each year in a forest location in the Weald of Kent. 

In the daytime, it is a Summer Camp where attendees participate in a selection of 100 adventure activities, incorporating everything from quad biking, flying trapeze and tree climbing.

There is also nerf wars, beekeeping, campfire bread baking and riding in a hot air balloon. 

By night, the forest transforms into a festival where revellers can dance until the early hours to a diverse music programme, find secret late-night parties and cosy up around campfires. Previous headliners have included Grandmaster Flash, Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon, Slamboree, Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy and Savage Disco.

Since its creation in 2015, Camp Wildfire has sold out every year and grown. In the Den, the founders will preview their plans for continuing that growth and establishing more events in a host of unique and scenic new locations.

Lee and Julia said: “We created Camp Wildfire as a solution to the ever-growing request from adults to do more with their weekend than a contemporary music festival can offer. We’re enormously proud of what we’ve achieved so far and really excited about our appearance on Dragons’ Den this week. The whole process of appearing in the Den was absolutely incredible and we can’t wait to see our episode.”