Dragons' Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis is rumoured to be eyeing collapsed high street chain Woolworths.

Mr Paphitis is believed to be among more than ten "serious" potential bidders for the retailer.

Another is Ardeshir Naghshineh, the businessman who owns ten per cent of the company's shares.

Administrator Deloitte was appointed last week after Hilco, the restructuring specialist, failed in its bid to buy Woolworths' stores for £1 and assume a major share of it £385 million borrowing facility.

Mr Paphitis met with Deloitte on Friday but his interest in Woolworths was said to be "tentative".

He made his fortune by turning around companies including Ryman the Stationer, the Contessa and La Senza lingerie chains, and Partners the Stationer.

But it was his role on the BBC series Dragons' Den which brought him to the public's attention as one of a panel of venture capitalists willing to invest their own money in exchange for equity in schemes pitched by would-be entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile Mr Naghshineh is reported to be putting together a deal team and financing package over the weekend.

Neville Kahn of Deloitte said: "We've got people who want to buy the business as a business and we've got people who want to buy stores. We're talking both to financial players but also to people in the retail trade as well."

Woolworths, which opened its first UK store in Liverpool in 1909, saw sales plummet as customers turned to supermarkets and the internet to gain better value.

The stores will stay open over the festive season but doubts remain over the future of thousands of jobs - the group employs 30,000 staff, with around 25,000 working in retail.

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