I’m Bannatyne

loosely translates as “i’m out”, and can be applied to various situations.

this is a reference to the the default investment position of duncan bannatyne, a scottish entrepreneur who currently sits on the panel of ‘business angels’ on the british version of the tv programme ‘dragons’ den’.

bannatyne is well known as being one of dragons who is more reluctant to invest, and can rapidly dismiss a pitch for a variety of reasons, always with the declaration “i’m out”.
bizarrely, however, he has made some of the stranger investment decisions seen on the programme, such as when he bought into a shop in leicester which sold caps.
flatmate 1: “see you later mate, i’m bannatyne”
flatmate 2: “cool, where you off to?”
flatmate 1: “i’m going to theo paphitis’ book signing”
flatmate 2: “no worries, catch you later”

“this party’s rubbish, i’m bannatyne”

chap 1: “so i was wondering how to end things with my girlfriend last night, and it suddenly came to me”
chap 2: “oh yeah, what did you say?”
chap 1: “i’m bannatyne. she knew what i meant. still cried a lot though…”

budding entrepreneur 1: “i’ve just invented a machine which prints money and i’ve been subcontracted by the royal mint…”
bannatyne (immediately cuts in): “sorry, but i’m out”.

bannatyne: “so, you manufacture chocolate tea-pots and lead balloons”
budding entrepreneur 2: “yep, i’m really confident that with your experience and contacts we can really take this somewhere”
bannatyne: “i’m in”.