A FORMER Dragons’ Den contestant has brought a new kind of shop and cafe to the Dorset coast.

Hugh Roper aims to attract some of the many cyclists who head along Poole’s Sandbanks Road for the seafront or the ferry to Purbeck.

Rockets and Rascals offers a place to stop for coffee, have a bicycle fixed and even get a massage or physiotherapy.

He will also be selling the invention that earned him a spot on national TV – an illuminated cycle helmet.

Mr Roper, 44, spent 20 years working with the Hugh Symons group of companies, which his father founded in 1971.

He had his eye on Sandbanks Road’s former Barclays branch, along with its neighbouring premises, for some time and saw it as a good spot for a bike cafe.

Similar businesses had been successful in London but had not been tried locally.

He said: “Cyclists enjoy one another’s company and they also feel self-conscious when they walk in a coffee shop or traditional cafe because they’ve got their cycling gear on, they look a bit odd and they’ve got a big bike to deal with.

“Here, they can roll in on their bikes, leave it in here or hang it on the wall.”

He was advised to check out a cafe in Plymouth called Rockets and Rascals.

He liked it, got on well with the owners and suggested setting up his own version, giving the original owners some equity in his business in return for their involvement.

The cafe aims to welcome non-cyclists, but cycling enthusiasts can buy bikes or accessories there, seek advice, have their aching muscles tended to and take a shower. They can even have muddy bicycles cleaned.

“The feedback from the trade is encouraging.

“Rockets and Rascals is a bit different form the traditional bike shop, which tends to be a little bit more male orientated, a little bit technically biased. What we’re trying to do is create more of a family atmosphere,” said Mr Roper.

He teamed up with Martyn Hoyle, a former professional downhill mountain bike racer, who ran a repair shop in Poole town centre and was looking to move.

The cafe menu was devised by Tansy Austin, who aimed to mix healthy fare with more filling items for those intending to burn off a lot of calories.

It includes a breakfast burrito alongside power smoothies and muesli.

The business employs eight people, several of them part time.

Mr Roper, who recently completed the Ironman Wales triathlon in Tenby, intends to try holding events and training courses in the evenings and has already hosted a book signing.

He said the bike shops had to compete with online retailers through high standards of customer service.

“The rise of companies like Wiggle is changing the dynamic whereby the wholesaler and retailers used to make quite good margins,” he said.

“The bike retailers are having to look at ways of reinventing themselves.”

THE invention that landed Hugh Roper on Dragons’ Den was the Torch bicycle helmet.

Invented by Nathan Wills in Los Angeles, the helmet features a white light at the front and a red one at the back – curved so that the helmet is visible from 360 degrees. The lights are charged from a USB cable.

Mr Wills raised 64,000 US dollars for the idea via the crowd-funding site Kickstarter.

Mr Roper had recently left the mobile phone business and invested in bringing the product to Europe. After landing a spot on Dragons’ Den, Mr Roper flew Nathan Wills over from California to take part with him.

“It was difficult to raise awareness without spending a lot of money on advertising, but going on Dragons’ Den, we had 10 minutes of positive coverage,” he said.

They timed a launch on another crowd-funding site, Seedrs, to coincide with the show’s transmission. “We managed to get over £120,000 raised from 250 investors,” said Mr Roper.

As well as the helmet, he plans to market a range of Torch Apparel products.