John Caudwell Quotes

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John Caudwell

Profession : Businessman

Birth : October 7, 1952

I have a helicopter that I use for U.K. business trips, and I fly myself. I have a yacht in Antibes in the south of France, which is a sort of indulgence, as we only use it for about four weeks a year. The rest of the time, it is chartered out to people as a business.

John Caudwell

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.

John Caudwell

I do not put my tastes as incredibly expensive, but they are incredibly expensive for an average man.

John Caudwell

Really good customer service will deliver sales. You are training salesmen to give the best possible advice and then to achieve the sale. People actually like you to ask for a sale because it shows you value their business.

John Caudwell

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?

John Caudwell

Taxes aren't the way to go. They'd strangle the economy; you wouldn't create the wealth. And nothing squanders money as well as a government. What we need is to encourage rich people to give.

John Caudwell

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.

John Caudwell

I was always interested in ladies' fashion.

John Caudwell

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.

John Caudwell

OK, I've made a preposterous amount of money. But I was born with the attributes needed to do it.

John Caudwell

There are lots of brownfield sites in Stoke, but they are not suitable for building executive homes. It needs to be surrounded by fields. It needs to be on greenbelt land. That's what executives want.

John Caudwell

I really do feel guilty that I don't visit me mum enough.

John Caudwell

When the country's indebtedness is so colossal and where the budget deficit is so huge, there is a moral obligation on people to pay their fair and reasonable dues.

John Caudwell

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.

John Caudwell

People can come to me, and no matter how expert they are, I can virtually always see a way of doing something better.

John Caudwell

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

When my back's to the wall, I want to fight.

John Caudwell

I do like a healthy dose of adrenalin, but my character is more rounded. I am not timid; I like excitement.

John Caudwell

I had challenges to overcome as a child, and that was good.

John Caudwell

I just wasn't academic. I wanted to be in the real world.

John Caudwell