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Rachel Lowe | |
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Born | Rachel Tanya Lowe August 1977 (age 48) Portsmouth, United Kingdom |
Alma mater | University of Portsmouth |
Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Known for | Creator of Destination |
Website | rachellowe |
Rachel Tanya Lowe MBE (born August, 1977) is a British serial entrepreneur and board games developer. She is best known for developing the Destination series of games, including editions for Toy Story , the London 2012 Olympic Games and Downton Abbey .
She is the founder of Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles, a company that creates board games under license for brands such as The Elf on the Shelf and Call the Midwife. [1]
Lowe was born in Portsmouth in August 1977, [2] and attended St Edmund's Catholic School and Havant and South Downs College. [3]
While working as a taxi driver and mother-of-two, she developed an idea for a taxi-themed board game. [4] [5] A passenger, a university lecturer, encouraged her to attend university. [6] [7] She enrolled for a degree in Law and Business as a mature student at the University of Portsmouth. [6]
In 2003, Lowe founded board games designer and publisher RTL Games. [8] She funded production of the board game through an enterprise competition at the University of Portsmouth, [5] [4] [6] and sponsorship deals with local companies. [6] [9] [10]
In September 2004, she appeared in the inaugural British series of Dragons' Den . After struggling to answer questions on the company's finances and the size of the market, her pitch was rejected. [5] [9]
Toy retailer Hamleys launched the first edition, Destination London, for Christmas 2004. [4] [9] The game sold 2,500 copies and was the store's most-sold game of the year, beating classic games like Monopoly. [9] [10] Further versions were produced.
RTL Games entered administration in May 2009. Lowe lost her house and suffered a nervous breakdown. [5] [6] [11] [12] The company's demise was covered by a 2010 BBC Panorama investigation on bank irresponsibility. She Who Dares UK Ltd later acquired the Destination brand and produced further editions of the game, [5] [6] [11] [12] including Destination Hogwarts, Destination London 2012 and Destination Downton Abbey. [12] [13] [14]
In 2014, Lowe appeared on the panel for an episode of BBC's The Apprentice: Your Fired for the candidates’ board game challenge. [15]
Lowe's appearance in the BBC Panorama documentary was watched by angel investor Simon Dolan, who provided the funds to launch a new lifestyle company, She Who Dares UK Ltd. [5] [6] [12] [11]
The company produced perfume, jewellery and accessories for women. [10] [16] The company later launched its own fragrances, Eminence and Dalliance, and signed a deal to produce Swarovski fashion accessories. The company's fragrances were sold in Jarrold. [10] [12]
Lowe resigned as a director of She Who Dares in July 2017. [16]
In 2017, Lowe founded Rachel Lowe Games and Puzzles, which creates and sells licensed board games, jigsaw puzzles and card games. [17] The company has created products under license for Hotel Transylvania, Call the Midwife, Mr Bean, Friday Night Dinner, Laurel and Hardy and WWE. [18] [19] [20]
In 2017, Lowe released a board game for the Jumanji film series, which became a top seller on Amazon and won Product of the Year at the Toy Industry Awards in 2019. [21] [1] [22]
In 2019, Lowe launched the WWE: Road to WrestleMania board game, along with a puzzle and playing cards. In the same year, her company was awarded a licence to launch the official Elf on the Shelf Board Game, which launched in December 2020. [18] [23]
Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles was one of the official licensing partners to develop and launch a range of official Beano puzzles and games to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dennis the Menace. [19]
In 2025, Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles Created 17 Editions of the Destination Board Games into 1000 Jigsaw Puzzles on her website. </ref>https://rachellowe.co.uk/shop/page/1/? yith_wcan=1&brand=destination&product_cat=puzzles </ref>
Lowe is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Portsmouth, where she advises students, alumni and staff on the launch or growth of their businesses. [24]
She serves as a Governor at Portsmouth College, where she sits on Audit and Student Health and Wellbeing committees. [25]
In 2006, Lowe was the winner of the NatWest everywoman Award, which celebrates female entrepreneurial success. [26]
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2009 for her services to business in promoting enterprise in schools, colleges, and universities. [27]