I’m in the Dragons’ Den. Well, one of them: Duncan Bannatyne’s hideaway in the south of France. From behind its protective cordon of high walls and two sets of electric gates, it commands a multimillion-euro view that sweeps down, over sunlit slopes dotted with similarly discreet villas, all the way to Cannes and out over the sparkling Mediterranean. We are lounging on the terrace by the pool, chilled lemonade in hand. It would be so easy not to say the wrong thing. But I do it anyway.

“Do you know what?” I confide. “These days, whenever I’m in an airport, I always see kids rolling along on those Trunkis.” I'm talking about the elephant-shaped children’s ride-on wheeled suitcases presented to Bannatyne and his fellow entrepreneurs by a hopeful inventor on Dragons’ Den, the programme in which budding tycoons seek funding to turn their bright ideas into thriving businesses. Bannatyne and co turned down the Trunki’s creator, Rob Law, who nonetheless went on to make it into a successful product that has sold all over the world.

“I don’t think anyone’s told me that," says Bannatyne, his velvety brown eyes turning a shade flinty, “since, ooh, yesterday.” That had been the business-class steward on his flight over from London to Nice. Oops. Perhaps drawing the attention of a self-made multimillionaire, valued at £320m on The Sunday Times Rich List, to a supposed business gaffe was not the wisest of interviewing moves. But the real Bannatyne, unlike the hard-nosed inquisitor we know from our television screens, is so comfortably laid-back, the moment passes.

Or perhaps it’s the Riviera effect. Bannatyne, a young-looking 60, has taken time off from his business empire of 61 fitness clubs and three hotels for a long weekend with his wife, Joanne, 43, and a gaggle of friends from the northeast of England. This is the area the Clydebank-born businessman calls home, and was the base from which he established a series of successful enterprises. He also has a flat in Covent Garden, a short stroll from the Ivy, handy for his media career: series seven of Dragons’ Den will be broadcast later this year.

“It’s very much as good as before,” he claims, “though with the economic climate, we’re all being a little bit more cautious to make sure we get a return.”

I thought they were already pretty tight-fisted — just ask Trunki man.

He also writes books: How to Be Smart with Your Money is the latest. So was this villa a smart buy? “This is our second house in France," he replies. “Seven years ago, we bought a house in Le Cannet . We sold it 18 months ago. At first, I intended just to have holidays all over the world with our children, but as the sale was going through, Joanne was here, with friends who were househunting, and fell in love with this place.

“She convinced me to buy it before we’d even completed the deal on Le Cannet, and it was three months after we bought it that I first saw it. I paid €4m for it — that was £3m then, but I already had the euros here.”

What could he sell it for now? “My friend sold a place up the hill for €3.7m, but that was before the credit crunch. I haven’t heard of any more selling. I don’t think I’ll ever sell. Well, if someone offered me €10m, I would.”

Which is about as likely right now as Bannatyne investing in brightly coloured plastic suitcases shaped like elephants (oops, I’m doing it again), given the stalled nature of the Riviera property market. Anyway, Joanne was right: this house has all the elements he wants in a holiday retreat. Last year, he tells me, he spent 46 days here with family and friends. (His next book will be on successful time management.)

As well as having the advantage of being able to fly direct to nearby Nice from Newcastle (making it four hours door to door from Bannatyne’s Tyneside home), the location is less isolated than the Le Cannet house. It is just down the hill from the centre of Mougins — a village once famed for its artistic connections, but now better known for its excellent restaurants. “From here, you can walk to the shops,” he says. And, the 12-year-old five-bedroom house had exactly the features Bannatyne had decided were essential. “The kitchen must overlook the pool and the pool must overlook the view, so we can watch the kids from the kitchen,” he explains. “And I like being in the pool, looking up and seeing the ladies cooking.”

Glass doors slide right back into the walls, completely opening one side of the rustic-style kitchen onto a shaded terrace and the pool’s deep end. “From now to September we live outside,” says Bannatyne, who’s wearing baggy pink-flowered swimming shorts and showing off an already impressive tan. (He changes into more formal attire for the photographs.) More glass doors connect the dining and sitting rooms, and a couple of the bedrooms, with the pool and terrace.

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