payday

DRAGONS Den star Steven Bartlett has banked a massive £10million from the sale of Huel.

Steven, 33, was one of the first investors in the meal replacement brand and first took a stake in 2017.

Now food giant Danone – which owns Activia and Actimel – has agreed to purchase Huel for £860m.

As a result, Steven – who hosts UK’s No1 podcast Diary Of A CEO, is laughing all the way to the bank.

A source said: “Steven really does have the Midas touch when it comes to investments.

“He was an early investor – and the biggest, earliest non-corporate investor in Huel.

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“It’s safe to say he has made more than £10 million with Huel over the years – which is a, frankly, enormous sum.

“But it just goes to show what a canny investor he is.

“Of course, not all investments on new companies work out – but Steven’s track record is fantastic.

“He believes in new businesses and entrepreneurs and, on this occasion, his acumen has delivered big.”

Steven isn’t the only celebrity that’s seen more than just gym gains from the brand.

In 2022, Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina backed the brand with a £20m fundraiser.

Broadcaster Jonathan Ross and TALA’s Grace Beverley also hopped on the trend and invested.

Since then, Huel expanded its range to nutrition bars, health drinks and ready meals.

Huel is just the latest investment of Steven’s to deliver.

Perfect Ted – the matcha company he invested in – has become the most successful Dragons Den pitch ever; after it was valued at more than £140 million late last year.

Today, matcha has taken over an entire floor of his London office building.

Bartlett is also the host of Diary Of A CEO, one of the biggest Podcasts in the world – and the UK and Europe’s No1.

Earlier this year, Steven announced he was engaged to long-term partner Melanie Lopes, a French-Portuguese wellness influencer.

An On the Beach travel influencer has shared recommendations for holidaymakers

People booking holidays after payday could benefit from a travel expert’s destination tips. A travel influencer has shared six holiday trends he predicts for March and April, and the knowledge could benefit anyone looking for a ‘cheap city break’ in the coming weeks.

The tips were highlighted in a video shared by Rob Brooks, a travel enthusiast and influencer with the travel company On The Beach. Rob is well-known for posting budget-friendly travel advice, hotel reviews, and holiday tips for his 114k TikTok followers, where he goes by the username @Robonthebeach.

In a new video shared this week, the travel lover shared ‘six holiday trends’ he is ‘predicting for payday’. In the clip, Rob explained: “If I got paid today and I had seven days to book a holiday, this is exactly what I’d be doing.

“I’m Rob, I work in travel, and I spend my days deep in holiday data, what people are searching, what people are booking, what’s getting sneakily cheaper. And these are my payday predictions as a holiday expert, and more importantly, exactly how I’d use them.”

First, Rob predicted that city breaks will soar in popularity this year. He said: “Short trips are crazy popular in 2026, and I’m seeing loads of demand because people want a quick break without burning loads of annual leave. And when flights price dynamically, weekends get expensive really fast.

“So midweek is currently where the value sits on city breaks. And if I was booking one right now, I’d be looking at a midweek break in Prague, Lisbon or Barcelona. I’d try and line them up with a May bank holiday so you can stretch your time off without paying peak prices.”

Moving on, the travel enthusiast said Turkey ‘will see a surge of bookings.’ He said: “You’re getting five-star all-inclusive holidays for the same prices that you’d pay for three-star elsewhere. And interestingly, according to the data, the longer the transfer, the cheaper the holiday.”

As for when you want to book your trip, the holiday expert suggested May. Rob told viewers: “May is a perfect crossover for holidays, and I’m seeing some pretty nuts prices in some destinations where the weather is already properly warm.

“Airlines and hotels haven’t quite pushed up the prices yet in line with peak demand, but that demand is now starting to build. So if I was booking today I would lock in a holiday in May in somewhere like Morocco or Egypt, Tunisia or Turkey because they’re hot, reliable and still really good value before summer kicks in.”

Sharing another tip, Rob added that all-inclusive holidays are proving popular. For his next prediction, the influencer said: “Last-minute bookings will spike. There’s a real wait and see behaviour with holidaymakers right now.”

He continued: “People are watching prices then jumping in to book as soon as they drop. And when airlines and hotels need to fill seats and rooms close to departure, that’s when prices on package holidays suddenly start to dip. If I were going for pure value, I would actually wait and book about seven days before departure, possibly even later than that. It’s risky. But when it works, it really works. I should say, please, only do this if you’re prepared and in a position to take that risk.”

Concluding his video, Rob added that he thinks people will treat themselves more this payday. “There’s definitely a bit of a go on then mindset in the UK right now, and I personally think it might be tied to the cost of living creeping up again cause people know prices are only going one way, so they’re locking in the good prices now before they go up. So if I were booking this week, I’d probably stretch my budget a little bit to book a better hotel or a nicer room and lock it in before prices inevitably climb over the next few weeks.”