Niall O'Farrell, CEO, Blacktie (Dragon, RTE Dragons' Den)

Niall O'Farrell was born in Dublin and educated at Catholic University School in Leeson Street. Having left school he went straight into business in the retail menswear sector and studied marketing in Parnell Square. During the recession of 1985 he left his employment and did a Start Your Own Business Course with ANCO: Following which he set up his first formal wear shop in Ranelagh which then became the Blacktie retail chain of formalwear shops. Niall has been building his property portfolio since the age of 22. He has many landmark buildings in London and Ireland. His portfolio includes high end residential properties, high end office buildings in London's mid town as well as a residential and retail block on London's Pall Mall which was part of a property portfolio he bought from the Crown Estate.

Niall has been a Dragon since the first series of Dragons' Den in 2008, as a Venture and Development Capital investor.

To date Niall has invested in the goldsmith ElaineSarah Comerford and helped turn this luxury jewellery brand into Button & Co Goldsmiths whose collection is available in 30 of the top jewellery stores throughout Ireland and the U.K.

More recently Niall has invested in Dee's Burgers, Eat Well be Happy range of Organic veggie burgers and ready meals, which is now available in all supermarkets throughout Ireland, and is now on the shelves of 500 stores in the U.K. including Whole Foods Market, Marigold Health Foods and E H Booths.He is also in partnership with Kate Carmody of Beal Organic award winning whole milk cheddar cheese from County Kerry.

Having had a lifetime commitment to retail Niall has partnered with Des and Linda Hayes of the Mooz Milkshake brand which just recently opened in Jervis Street Shopping Centre. Niall hopes to roll out a network of Mooz Milkshakes and old fashioned sweet bars throughout the country. Niall also invested in Amphibia Sports Limited: Amphibia is a performance sports brand designing and producing performance sports bags with functionality for tri-athletes, swimmers and high performance sports people.

Niall has recently invested in two of the most successful items from Dragons' Den Series Four. Uncle Aidan's Stone Ground Flour and A J Sports the manufacturer of the ultra light two tone sports watch that has been a huge success and made it into over 600 stores nationwide within three weeks of the episode being aired. Niall is in demand as a speaker at conferences and is outspoken in his support for the reintroduction of government-backed training schemes and enterprise allowance schemes. Niall, when he does have some spare time, also enjoys sports including golf, clay shooting and fishing.