JOHN CAUDWELL
@johndcaudwell
PRESS RELEASE
January 19, 2012.
ENTREPRENEUR JOHN CAUDWELL IS TITLE CHARACTER IN SKY 1 HD SERIES “THE ANGEL”.
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Entrepreneur John Caudwell is to be the title character in a new flagship Sky 1 HD series to be screened in the summer – The Angel.
John, who sold his mobile telecoms business for £1.5 billion in 2006, has more recently been involved in extensive charitable and philanthropic work, but in this series he goes back to his business roots by assessing entrepreneurs who will compete for £100,000 of his money in each programme.
In each of the five 60-minute shows, six contestants will be invited into the studio to compete for that investment in a bid to make their business dreams come true.
But it will not be easy: Caudwell will scrutinise their every word, thought and move.
“Business is tough and uncompromising, and that’s how I’ll be in interviewing and assessing people who are hoping to get £100,000 of my money to invest in their business,” said John.
“I’ve interviewed many would-be senior managers for my businesses, and I know from experience that with the right people on board, you can make almost anything work – but the wrong ones, with the wrong approach, wrong attitude and wrong qualities can be disastrous.
“I’ll be looking for specific and exceptional qualities – perhaps not entirely what these contestants would expect: hunger and ambition can hide in many places in somebody’s character, personality and background.”
John, from Stoke-on-Trent , transformed twenty six mobile phones worth £1,350 each into a £2 billion business. Caudwell Group – best known for the high street chain Phones4U – had by 2000 achieved an annual turnover exceeding £1billion. More recently he has provided millions of pounds worth of support through philanthropic work to projects including the Prince’s Regeneration Trust and its redevelopment of Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, as major benefactor to the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park, and to the work of the Elton John Aids Foundation amongst others – although his prime charitable interest is his own charity, Caudwell Children www.caudwellchildren.com
John says that the success of the business was mostly to do with the quality of his employees – who could have been successful in any business – although being involved in the fast-growing mobile phone market was a contributing factor.
“Success can be down to the individual and his or her qualities, and the ability to deliver against an idea rather than the idea itself – although the idea is, of course, important,” said John (Twitter @johndcaudwell).
“Bearing that in mind, the show provides a fantastic opportunity to combine analysis of business people’s abilities with an opportunity to help drive young entrepreneurial companies forward, but, best of all, it creates a vast opportunity to generate cash for charitable purposes: all profits from my investments, and all my fees, will go to my charity, Caudwell Children (@caudwellkids), which helps sick and dying – but massively inspirational – children.”
The six contestants – each carefully chosen for character, contrast and their business idea - will be put under extreme pressure throughout a series of rounds specifically designed to address John’s six golden business attributes: drive, ambition, passion, resilience, commercial intellect and leadership.
The rounds will consist of a mixture of individual tasks, head-to-heads and group challenges, and at the end of each round, after the worst performing contestants have faced a thorough grilling from John, one hopeful will be eliminated. The last remaining entrepreneur in each programme will be awarded £100,000 of John’s own money in investment.
However, it is only after John has put his money on the table does he finally find out what he’s just invested in.
The Angel is a Twofour production for Sky 1 HD. The factual entertainment series was commissioned by Stuart Murphy and will be exec produced by Melanie Leach and Chris Brogden (Twofour) and Antonia Hurford-Jones (Sky). Sarah Caplin is consultant executive producer, and the series producer is Kate Bates.
The Angel is due to be broadcast on Sky 1 HD in the summer. To get involved visit www.sky.com/theangel.
In 2006, John Caudwell sold his 10,000-employee mobile phone business, which included Phones 4u, for £1.5bn. John now concentrates on charitable and philanthropic work including Caudwell Children @caudwellkids.
Ends
Further information:
Iain Macauley
07788 978800
