Behind the scenes at Britain’s retail giants, buying teams have the power to create trends, make or break careers and decide exactly what the public buys.

Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis presents a new 7 x 60-minute series produced by Maverick Television for BBC Two. The Buying Game goes behind closed doors at some of the biggest names in UK retail to expose the secret world of buying for the first time.

In a twist, these buyers won’t be turning to their trusted suppliers for the next big thing. Instead, they’ll be gambling on the talents of the British public in their quest to find the best and most innovative new products. For the fledgling designer, this is a chance in a lifetime.

Theo Paphitis – Dragon, retailer and business star – knows and loves the business of buying. He’ll be at the helm of this ambitious project: demystifying shop talk and revealing the competitive inner workings of retail, from prototype to product development to the finished article on the shop floor.

Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two, says: “It’s going to be fascinating to see Theo’s extraordinary understanding of the market and astute business acumen at work outside of the Den, combined with a great insight into a rarely glimpsed side of the retail industry.”

The Buying Game is commissioned by Janice Hadlow and Mirella Breda, Executive Editor for Entertainment Commissioning.

The executive producer is Steph Harris and the series producer is Claire Hobday.

Theo is also presenting Theo’s Adventure Capitalists on BBC Two later this month.