Product Update

Is Glassbusters Still in Business? (2026 Update)

Is Glassbusters from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Glassbusters today.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 8 May 20266 min read

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Glassbusters pitched a point-of-consumption glass compacting system in series 13, asking for £200,000 for 30 percent of the business. The company's pitch was built around turning waste glass bottles into a saleable material it called Eco-Sand. Years later, Companies House records show the business has been formally wound up, and it is not trading any more.

The Short Answer

Glassbusters Limited is no longer in business. The company went through a creditors' voluntary liquidation that began in November 2023, and the company was formally dissolved in April 2026. Any references you find online to Glassbusters being active, including the company's own older marketing material, no longer reflect its current status.

The Pitch in the Den

Founder Pete Ancketill pitched Glassbusters in series 13, episode 12, asking for £200,000 for 30 percent of the company. The pitch centred on a glass-crushing machine designed to sit at the point of consumption in pubs, bars and hospitality venues, compacting empty bottles down into what the company branded as Eco-Sand, a byproduct it hoped to sell on rather than simply send to landfill or standard glass recycling.

It is a genuinely interesting waste-management idea, tackling a real cost problem for hospitality venues, which typically pay for glass collection and disposal. The pitch reportedly ran into some tense moments in the Den, including exchanges with Deborah Meaden over how clearly the founder could answer questions about the business's numbers.

The Deal, and What Came After It

Whether an on-air offer for Glassbusters converted into a completed investment is not confirmed in the public record, and there is no clear evidence of any Dragon appearing as a listed shareholder or director of the company afterward. What is verifiable is the company's later corporate history, and that history does not end well.

Companies House filings show Glassbusters Limited entered a creditors' voluntary liquidation, with the winding-up process beginning in November 2023. That is the formal insolvency route a company takes when it cannot pay its debts and its directors choose to wind it up themselves rather than have a court do it.

Formal Dissolution in 2026

The liquidation process concluded with Glassbusters Limited being struck off and formally dissolved in April 2026. Once a company is dissolved, it ceases to exist as a legal entity, its assets have been distributed to creditors as far as the estate allowed, and it can no longer trade, invoice, or hold contracts under that company name.

This is a clear, documented outcome rather than an inference from an old, unmaintained website. Company insolvency records are a matter of public record, and Glassbusters Limited's filing history shows the liquidation and dissolution dates plainly.

Why This Matters for Anyone Searching for the Product

If you are looking to buy or lease a Glassbusters glass compacting unit today, or to get in touch with the company about servicing an existing machine, you will not find an active business to deal with. Any installed units still in venues are likely running without ongoing manufacturer support, and any Eco-Sand supply arrangement the company had would not have survived the liquidation.

Waste-to-material ventures like this one are capital intensive, relying on machinery, ongoing servicing contracts, and finding buyers willing to pay for the recycled output at a price that covers the collection and processing cost. When any one of those pieces breaks down, the whole model can unravel quickly, and that appears to be roughly what happened here.

A Reminder to Check the Register, Not Just the Website

Glassbusters is a good example of why an old, unmaintained company website is not reliable evidence either way about whether a business is still trading. A site can sit online for years after the underlying company has stopped operating, and a founder rarely goes back to update old marketing pages to announce a closure. Companies House filing history, by contrast, is a legal record that has to be kept accurate, and it is usually the most trustworthy single source for confirming whether a UK company is still active.

In this case, the filing history tells a clear and unambiguous story: a creditors' voluntary liquidation beginning in late 2023, followed by formal dissolution in 2026. There is no reasonable reading of those records that supports the business still being open today.

Where Things Stand Now

To recap: Glassbusters pitched in series 13 asking for £200,000 for 30 percent of the business. The company later entered creditors' voluntary liquidation in November 2023 and was formally dissolved in April 2026. It is not trading today, and there is no active business behind the Eco-Sand concept any more.

This is one of the clearer cases in the archive where the historical business really did close down, not just quietly fade from view. If you are trying to source a Glassbusters unit or its recycled sand product now, that company no longer exists to sell it to you.

Where to buy Glassbusters

Still selling as of 8 May 2026. Check today's price and availability.

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

See the full Glassbusters deal breakdown and term sheet →