{"id":447931,"date":"2026-02-27T05:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T05:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447931\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T05:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T05:03:11","slug":"shaf-rasul-star-of-dragons-den-dies-aged-55-after-suddenly-falling-ill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447931\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaf Rasul, star of Dragons’ Den dies aged 55 after suddenly falling ill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Dragons’ Den star Shafqat Rasul, also known as Shaf Rasul, has died at the age of 55, his family has confirmed\"An<\/p>\n

(Image: Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser)<\/p>\n

A former Dragons’ Den star has passed away at the age of 55. Entrepreneur Shaf Rasul is believed to have died at home after suddenly becoming unwell.<\/p>\n

He had featured on the BBC<\/a> online series of Dragons’ Den following its launch in 2009. His family issued a heartfelt statement after his death, which read: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Shafqat Rasul.<\/p>\n

“A devoted father to Sohaib and Sarah Rasul, a loving husband to Nabila Rasul, a cherished son of the late Haji Ghulam Rasul and Parveen Akhtar, and a dear brother to Zahid, Shahid, Ashfaq, Ml Abid and Juwariah.”<\/p>\n

A message from his relatives continued: “We humbly request your duas for the deceased and strength and patience for the family during this difficult time.”<\/p>\n

Shaf appeared in Dragons’ Den: Online. The dedicated, online version of the programme followed the same structure as the main show, reports the Mirror<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Shaf Rasulmade millions in the IT business<\/p>\n

It was hosted by Dominic Byrne and featured Shaf Rasul and Julie Meyer as the Dragons. The weekly episodes featuring the businessman were broadcast from 16 September 2009 to 7 October 2009.<\/p>\n

He launched his business career in the early 1990s and went on to become a self-made multi-millionaire after he founded E-Net Computers.<\/p>\n

A year before his stint in the Den, Shaf secured a place amongst the top 20 in the UK Asian Rich List. Among those honouring the businessman following his passing was Chris Gilmour.<\/p>\n

The co-founder of PR agency Tigerbond, told the Sun: “Shaf was a client for nearly 25 years and didn’t change a bit. He was always full of the same boundless enthusiasm for life and business..<\/p>\n

“There are so many people out there whose lives were touched by his kindness and he was always happy to dispense advice to budding entrepreneurs.”<\/p>\n

He continued: “”I still remember one of the first times I met him and he welcomed a colleague and me into his office \u2013 and introduced us to a tank of piranhas!”<\/p>\n

\"Shaf<\/p>\n

Shaf Rasul on Dragons Den<\/p>\n

Other social media users offered their own tributes. A former schoolmate wrote: “I’m shocked to hear this. I was at school with Shaf, such a smart, funny guy.”<\/p>\n

And another internet user commented: “Our friend Shaf has moved on to what I hope is a better place. I shall never forget your infectious and beautiful approach to life.<\/p>\n

“Your positivity, your embrace, your massive smile and your warm handshake. You always asked ‘of other people’ \u2013 never concerned about yourself.<\/p>\n

“Now we are thinking of you and your astonishing achievements. Most of all, we are thinking of how you made us all feel \u2013 and that will be what I will always remember.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Dragons’ Den star Shafqat Rasul, also known as Shaf Rasul, has died at the age of 55,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-447931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}