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Enter The Dragons - James Caan

Enter The Dragons - James Caan

James Caan has a more distinctive nature than some of his colleagues in Dragons' Den. Whereas most of the other Dragons adopt a ruthless and intimidating style, James is more friendly, emanating an air of calm with a pleasant humour. Caan is one of Britain's most celebrated entrepreneurs with a career focused on building companies and developing them for sale. His success is partly attributed to his ethos; investing in people.

The epicentre of James's portfolio is the recruitment industry. Around the early nineties this was where he began his career and where he is still actively involved today. He first started an agency called Alexander Mann before turning his attention to his next endeavour, Humana International which specialised in executive head hunting. Just three years later he co-founded the outsourcing company AMS. A few years after, he sold Humana International and shortly after sold a minority stake in Alexander Mann for £25 million.

Cann sold Alexander Mann in 2002, which at the time was turning over £130 million. The year after, he graduated from Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Programme and was awarded the PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entrepreneur of the Year. The following year he conceived the private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, where he resides as chief executive today. To date, Hamilton Bradshaw boasts a portfolio of companies with a combined turnover of £400 million.

Just like Theo and Duncan, James has a collection of nice cars and of course personalised number plates. It was around 1979 that James bought his first number plate. Today, his Rolls-Royce Phantom has 28 JC on it and his Maybach has his name stamped front and rear with the near perfect name plate C4 NNS. Again, just as with Theo and Duncan, James's family have been bestowed with personal plates. His wife, Aisha, has A1 SHA and one of his daughters, Jemma, has M155 JEM.

Although James is aware of the investment potential, his interest in number plates is somewhat casual as he is only interested in them from a fun point of view. It may be surprising that he does not invest in number plates, but according to James he prefers to stick with the trades that he is familiar with and understands. This is a trend that is clearly established in his business portfolio. His long term interests have been in business he knows well. Having said that, he admits the Dragons' Den has been an eye-opener since to an extent, it has expanded his business capacity.

James Cann, whose original name was Nazim Khan was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1960. Just like his colleagues, his roots are modest. His father worked in the so called rag trade and wanting a better life for his family, set about emigrating to the UK when Nazim was still an infant. Soon, a young Nazim was already demonstrating an inclination for business, selling some of his father's clothes at his school for a respectable mark up.

It seems the Dragons actually have quite a lot in common. James too, has a charitable proclivity. The James Caan Foundation was formed to improve the educational prospects for children in both developed and developing countries and is also involved with several other charities. James Cann is reassuringly in touch with reality. He acknowledges his own fortune and the hardship the less fortunate experience, and that realisation drives him to take action.

So there you have it. Britain's top entrepreneurs invest in number plates. Convincing evidence that personalised number plates assume an important place in today's investment portfolio. How about investing in one yourself? Start your search here: https://www.platemaster.com/search.htm

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