Touker Suleyman

Touker Suleyman is one of Britain's most recognisable entrepreneurs – a self-made business leader whose journey from near-total financial ruin to a multi-hundred-million-pound fashion empire has made him one of the most compelling speakers on the corporate and conference circuit.

Born in Cyprus, Touker moved to England as a young child, settling in South London. By the age of 18 he had founded his own clothing manufacturer, Kingsland Models, supplying major British high street names including C&A, Dorothy Perkins and Topshop. A series of bad investments in the early 1980s left him facing financial collapse, forcing him to sell his home and start again from nothing – a chapter he speaks about with disarming candour, and one that gives his message its real power.

That comeback became Low Profile Group, an international clothing manufacturer employing 2,000 people across Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria, and a longstanding supplier to Marks & Spencer. In 2001 he acquired the historic Jermyn Street label Hawes & Curtis for just £1, taking on all its debt, before growing turnover from £600,000 to over £30 million and expanding the brand to thirty UK branches. He later acquired the iconic womenswear label Ghost, further proof of his gift for brand rescue and reinvention.

Touker spent a decade as one of the most trusted voices on BBC's Dragons' Den, pledging more than £3.8 million to entrepreneurs across his time on the show before stepping down in 2026 to focus on mentoring the founders he has backed. In 2024 he was awarded the Drapers Lifetime Achievement Award for his 50-year career in fashion.

A mentor for the Prince's Trust and ambassador for WellChild and The Retail Trust, Touker is a speaker of genuine substance, delivering hard-won insight on entrepreneurship, resilience, investment and brand building at conferences and events worldwide – insight that stays with audiences long after he leaves the stage.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.