John Caudwell, businessman

01/23/22 • 35 min

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John Caudwell is a businessman and philanthropist who founded the mobile phone company Phones 4U in 1996. It became the UK’s largest independent mobile phone retailer and made him one of Britain’s most successful businessmen.

John was born in Birmingham and grew up in Stoke-on-Trent. He came up with his first business venture when he was five – he sold his toys to the other children in his neighbourhood. After he left school he became an apprentice engineer at the Michelin Tyre Factory, but the hunger to have his own business drove him on. In his spare time he set up a variety of enterprises from a grocery store to a mail order business selling motorcycle clothing.

In 1980 he set up a car dealership with his brother Brian and a few years later spotted a mobile phone in use at a car auction. Although the phone was heavy and cumbersome, John saw the potential of cellular technology and set up his own retail business, starting off with 26 phones which took him almost a year to sell.

In 2000 he set up Caudwell Children, his charity which helps children with disabilities, and remains its largest single benefactor. He was one of the first people in the UK to sign up to Bill and Melinda Gates’s Giving Pledge, vowing to give away 70% of his wealth during his lifetime. In 2006 John sold the Caudwell Group for £1.5 billion.

DISC ONE: Bennie and the Jets by Elton John DISC TWO: She Loves You by The Beatles DISC THREE: Bring Him Home by Alfie Boe and the cast and orchestra of Les Misérables DISC FOUR: Maggie May by Rod Stewart DISC FIVE: My Way by Frank Sinatra DISC SIX: Bat out of Hell by Meat Loaf DISC SEVEN: Fix You by Coldplay DISC EIGHT: Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden

Book: A Desert Island Survival manual Luxury: Sunblock CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Fix You by Coldplay

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Book: A Desert Island Survival manual Luxury: Sunblock CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Fix You by Coldplay

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

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Deborah Levy, writer

Deborah Levy is a writer whose novels Swimming Home and Hot Milk were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Last year she published the final instalment of her ‘living autobiography’ trilogy of memoirs, and her earlier work includes plays for the RSC as well as short story collections and poetry.

Deborah was born in South Africa in 1959, the eldest child of anti-apartheid activists Norman and Philippa Levy. Her father was arrested when she was five and was imprisoned for four years. During this time, Deborah became an almost silent child, but was encouraged by a teacher to write down her thoughts, sparking her love of creative writing. After her father’s release, the family relocated to the UK and first lived above a menswear shop in London. As a teenager Deborah worked as a cinema usher, and a chance encounter with the film-maker Derek Jarman inspired her to change her plans to take a degree in literature, and instead she headed to Dartington College of Arts, where she studied writing for the stage and performance.

Her first play, Pax, was commissioned in 1984, and was followed by more than a dozen dramas. Deborah then turned to writing novels in the late 1980s and 1990s. Swimming Home was shortlisted for the 2012 Booker Prize, although it initially struggled to find a publisher. Her trilogy of autobiographies, beginning in 2013 with Things I Don't Want to Know, have enjoyed considerable critical acclaim.

DISC ONE: Nkosi Sikelel I’Afrika by Sol Plaatje DISC TWO: Starman by David Bowie DISC THREE: Opening by Phillip Glass DISC FOUR: Moritat Vom Mackie Messer (German version of Mack the Knife) by Lotte Lenya DISC FIVE: Black is the Color of my True Love’s Hair by Nina Simone DISC SIX: Soothing by Laura Marling DISC SEVEN: Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez DISC EIGHT: Because the Night by Patti Smith

BOOK CHOICE: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (Collected Works of C. G. Jung) LUXURY ITEM: A silk sheet CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Because the Night by Patti Smith

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Next Episode

Lyse Doucet, journalist

Lyse Doucet is the BBC’s award-winning chief international correspondent, reporting from a range of postings including in Kabul, Islamabad, Tehran and Jerusalem for nearly 40 years.

Lyse was born in Bathhurst, New Brunswick, in eastern Canada and after graduating with a master’s degree from the University of Toronto she set her sights on becoming a journalist. She took her first step by signing up with the volunteer agency Canadian Crossroads International which offered her a placement in Ivory Coast, West Africa.

In 1982 the BBC set up a West Africa office and Lyse began filing reports as a freelance journalist. After stints working in London and Pakistan she made her first visit to Kabul in 1988 and covered the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. This trip was the beginning of her long association with the country – a country she now calls her ‘second home’.

In 1989 she became the BBC’s Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent and later on in her career she reported from India and Indonesia in the aftermath of the tsunami. In 2011 she played a leading role in the BBC’s coverage of the Arab Spring, reporting from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

She was appointed an OBE in 2014 for services to British broadcast journalism and in 2019 she was admitted to the Order of Canada.

DISC ONE: Habibi Nour Al Ain by Amr Diab DISC TWO: Passionate Kisses by Mary Chapin Carpenter DISC THREE: Searching for Abegweit (Live) by Lenny Gallant DISC FOUR: Annie’s Song by John Denver DISC FIVE: Bi Lamban by Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko DISC SIX: L Einaudi: Elegy For The Arctic, composed and performed by Ludovico Einaudi DISC SEVEN: Here and Now by Derek Roche, featuring Kathy Evans DISC EIGHT: Dawn by The Orchestra of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music

BOOK CHOICE: A Persian language book LUXURY ITEM: Essential oils CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Searching for Abegweit (Live) by Lenny Gallant Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley