Pictured: Peter Jones and his fellow Dragons challenged on bad business decision

Local estate agents, Horts, has stepped up to the mark to challenge the Dragons who appeared on Dragon's Den this week. Peter Jones and the rest of the judges decided not to back the two budding entrepreneurs who were pitching the idea of the 'Realtor Method' - a method of using only 'self employed' property consultants, which has been used successfully by Horts in Northampton and Rugby.

Gil Ostrander, housing market expert who was pitching for £50,000 from the fire-breathing millionaires, stated: "Estate agency in the UK does not work. The UK is the last country in Europe not to follow the Realtor Model, a business model which has proved to work across the world by asking independent estate agents to join a network and pay as a licensee."

The dragons took it in turn to refuse the budding entrepreneurs the investment sought. But were they right?

Adam Wellesley, Director of Horts Estate Agents, commented: "It was interesting to see all five dragons not supporting the Realtor Method. Little did they realise that this is practiced in the UK - Horts Estate Agents runs on exactly this business model, and has done extremely successfully. I suspect if the Dragons had been aware of our success story they would have been a lot more forthcoming with their investments! The Canadian didn't help his cause on his delivery, and came across as cocky and arrogant, but the idea he was pitching was a gold nugget."

Horts took the bold step of adopting this business model a few years ago, a model that is unique to the local area but one that is used throughout most of Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and South Africa. 

Wellesley continued: "All our property consultants are 'self employed' and reap what they sow. They are driven individuals who don't 'clock on' in the morning and 'off' in the evening. We are the only estate agents in Northampton and Rugby to operate in this way."