I'm a wealth creator. I'm not interested in saving in the least. While I do spend a lot, I don't spend money like other billionaires. I'm probably quite unusual, albeit I do have some of the significant trappings. But I always try to make my assets work for a living.
— John Caudwell
Mine was quite a working-class childhood with very little money, and my father was out of work a couple of times, which had quite a traumatic effect.
Journalists like to say I started off sweeping the pottery floors. But it was just a short-lived part time job doing that after I left school.
Sometimes your worst competitors are the ones which are dying because they do stupid things.
I'm known for value for money. I was brought up to be frugal, and it's definitely a factor in my success. I was born in the Fifties, which was a frugal era, and my family had to be very careful with money out of necessity.
I make no apology for wanting to make a profit - the more I make, the bigger percentage will go to charity. So most of the work I do now is motivated by that.
My favourite thing is to come down to London from my home in Staffordshire in the helicopter and then get my bike out of the back and cycle into London. It's wonderful.
I'm in the lucky position that I can help a huge amount of people. It's a great privilege and freedom to have.
I didn't want my epitaph to read 'Here lies John Caudwell, billionaire.' I knew that wasn't enough. I've had a charitable instinct all my life, but working gave me no time for it.
I do want to keep the Wedgewood Collection in place, intact, and open to the public. Selling it off would be a real tragedy.
In the early days, I had everything to prove. A very working class lad with a burning ambition. A very crude way of measuring success is how much you are worth.
My second business would have succeeded but for competitors' jealousy. I was selling motorbike gear cheap, but the people I was undercutting complained to the manufacturer and cut off my supply. It showed me how corrupt business can be. When I sold phones, the same thing happened, but this time I was ready.
The only really important thing, at the end of the day, is your health. If you haven't got that, then all the money in the world isn't going to bring you happiness.
Knowing that my ancestry had all been quite wealthy and owned their own businesses probably left me with the ambition to replicate what they'd done.
I might have made more money if I had outsourced to India, and I knew I'd find it easier to hire senior managers in London. But I wanted to be in Stoke. What could be more satisfying than creating work for 3,000 people in my home town?
My objective is to leave my family adequately catered for, but I want my children to make their own way. I want them to have pride in their own achievements.
My father was unwell when I was 11, had a stroke at 14 and died when I was 18. My mother going to work at seven in the morning and coming back to look after him and me and my brother left its mark on me.
I was bullied at school for my red hair; today I still come out fighting hard. I give as good as I get. In business, it's about finding solutions, not being rolled over.
I would be the first to say that while a lack of money can cause misery, money doesn't buy you happiness.
