James Caan (businessman)

For the actor, see James Caan (actor).

James Caan
Born	Nazim Khan January  1960 (age 64) Lahore, Pakistan
Alma mater	Harvard University University of East London
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Business, Recruitment, Dragons' Den
Spouse	Aisha Caan
Parent	Abdul Rashid Khan
Website	www.james-caan.com

James Caan (formerly Nazim Khan; born 28 December 1960) is a British Pakistani investor, entrepreneur, television personality, and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw, a UK-based private equity company. He also founded Alexander Mann, a multinational recruitment company, and co-founded Humana International, a multinational headhunting firm. Caan joined the fifth series of BBC2’s Dragons' Den in 2007.

Early life

James Caan was born in Lahore, Pakistan. His father was Abdul Rashid Khan, a leather worker; he was born into a household of three brothers and three sisters. His father brought the family to the East End of London in 1962, when Caan was two. The family settled in a home just off Brick Lane, and Abdul started a business making leather jackets.

In his youth, Caan worked for his father, but he left school without qualifications at the age of 16, and left home shortly afterwards to pursue his ambitions of founding a business. He says his father took a while to offer his full support.

My father never understood why I didn't join the family business. When I opened the 100th global office of my company he said it maybe was the right thing for me to do.

Caan got his first job in the recruitment industry at the age of 18, when he joined Holborn-based Premier Personnel as a trainee interviewer. Within the year he moved to the larger City Centre Staff Bureau as a branch manager, before being headhunted by Alfred Marks, where he became manager of their Oxford Street branch. Finally, Caan settled down in the recruitment department of Reid Trevena, an incentive-driven financial services company.

Business

Alexander Mann (1985–2002)

In 1985, after several years investing in his wife's chain of boutiques, Caan decided to found his own recruitment company, Alexander Mann. In 1992, he appointed Jonathan Wright to run the business and stepped back to develop other business interests. In 1999, he sold a minority stake in Alexander Mann Group for £25m. The business was then valued at £60m by Advent International. In 2002, he sold his majority stake for an unknown amount. At the time Alexander Mann was turning over £130m a year and operating across Australia, Europe, and Asia.

Further business (1993–2006)

In 1993, Caan co-founded executive headhunting firm Humana International with Doug Bugie, eventually growing the business to over 147 offices in 30 countries, and launched the trade magazine Recruitment International, with David Head. In 1996, he set up business process outsourcing company Alexander Mann Solutions with Rosaleen Blair. Caan sold Humana International to CDI International in 1999, his stake in Recruitment International to co-founder and editor David Head in 2000, and Alexander Mann Solutions in 2002.

Hamilton Bradshaw (2003 – present)

In 2003, Caan set up London-based Hamilton Bradshaw, a mid-market private equity company. The Company’s portfolio contains firms in all sectors of industry, although it lists its interests as buyouts, development capital, and turnarounds. In 2006 it bought sandwich shop chain Benjys, which collapsed 9months later into liquidation. In 2007 it bought public and private sector recruitment specialist Eden Brown with revenues at over £180m. The company has already increased profits by 70% through a combination of investment and greater efficiency in the first six months of ownership. At present, Hamilton Bradshaw manages 41 companies, with a combined yearly turnover of £400m, and a real estate portfolio valued at £35m.

Ethnic Minority Business Taskforce (2007-Present)

James has been appointed the new co-chair, which supports over 280,000 businesses, contributing in excess of £20 billion a year to the UK economy Task Force. James is excited about his role as Co-Chair of the Department of Business' Ethnic Minority Task Force. Throughout his career, James has had great success working with entrepreneurial start-ups, and enjoys this sector the most. He relishes in the chance to provide something tangible on this scale, working alongside the Government.

The Big Issue (2009-Present)

On December 1 2009, James Caan was invited to become the Chairman of The Big Issue Magazine. A move that is hoped to inject the magazine with some entrepreneurial expertise, particularly with a view to bring it into the digital age and launching it in Pakistan.

iawards (2009)

James and Lord Drayson are involved with the iawards, a Government initiative to recognise and celebrate the best British achievements in science, technology and innovation. They are the first awards of their kind to be backed by the British Government, working in partnership with leading entrepreneur James Caan.

Media

Dragons’ Den

In October 2007, James Caan joined the panel of BBC Two's Dragons' Den; to date he has starred in three series. Caan has been characterized in the British media as both the calmest and most sincere of all the Dragons.

In his first series Caan was slow to invest, but after some time he decided to invest in the next product to come into the Den, whatever that would be. The product was a brand of treadmills for dogs called FitFurLife.

I had a feeling the time had come...I decided that I was going to invest in the first thing that came into the Den that day.

To date, Caan has invested in 14 companies, spanning multiple sectors; however, he and Duncan Bannatyne have become best known for their investments in the hardware industry, after building successful companies from three Dragon investments, Chocbox, Rapstrap, and MagnaMole. Both ChocBox and Rapstrap made £30m+ international deals within a month of investment.

TV Appearances (2007-Present)

Since James Caan's appearance on Dragons' Den in 2007 he has continued to take part in various TV programmes. (offering his insight into many different subject's) The money programme, Daily Politics, Question Time, The Wright Stuff, Bloomberg, GMTV, Comic Relief, Football Focus, The Apprentice, Virgin TV, ITV The Tonight Programme, Richard and Judy, Five News, This Week, Sky News, BBC Saturday Kitchen, CNBC News, BBC Frost All Over The World and BBC Breakfast.

Autobiography

Caan published his autobiography, The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons’ Den, in November, 2008. The title received generally positive reviews and subsequently became a British bestseller. In early 2009 Caan released an audiobook version. This coincided with the relaunch of his new official website, which received rave reviews by New Media Age magazine in May 2009 - a fitting tribute to Caan's investment in people and entrepreneurialism [1].

Personal life

Caan lives in London with his wife, Aisha Caan, and two daughters Hanah Caan and Jemma-Lia Caan.

Education

James Caan left school at the age of 16. In 2003 Caan participated in the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. As of July 2009, James was awarded an honorary doctorate (in business administration) from the Leeds Metropolitan University. James was also awarded an honorary degree from the University of East London in November 2009.

Philanthropy

Caan operates his own charity, the James Caan Foundation, which lends aid to the needy in the UK and Pakistan. Caan’s current and past schemes have focussed on helping disadvantaged children get a quality education. Caan is a member of the Prince's Trust Enterprise Team, he actively supported the NSPCC Full Stop charity campaign, and he adopted a school on behalf of the Care Foundation.

Caan originally visited Pakistan on a humanitarian aid trip in 2005, when he built his first independent school in partnership with The Citizens Foundation (TCF) in Lahore. The school currently educates 420 disadvantaged children between the ages of 5 and 11 for free. The Foundation continues to fund the institution and operates a teacher training programme in its premises.

It is rumoured that Caan is in discussions with the British Government to launch a multi-million pound project to aid Pakistan’s struggling education system.

Name change

In a 2008 BBC documentary, Caan described how going to see the movie 'Godfather', starring the actor James Caan, inspired him to change his name. He believed 'James Caan' better suited the business environment.

I was called Nazim Khan, and it suddenly struck me that I could spell my surname in a different way. I mentioned this to my friends and they started calling me James Caan as a joke. Then I had some business cards printed with my 'new' name on for fun - and somehow the name stuck. Presenting myself as James Caan was a great opener with potential clients, so I used it all the time, eventually changing my name by deed poll some years later, much to my father's disapproval.

Awards

• Shortlist for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Entrepreneur of the Year (2000)
• BT Enterprise of the Year (2001)
• PricewaterhouseCoopers Entrepreneur of the Year (2003)
• Asian Jewel Entrepreneur of the Year (2003)
• GG2 Leadership and Diversity Man of the Year (2008)
• GG2 Leadership and Diversity Asian Businessman of the Year (2009)
• Honorary Degree from Leeds Metropolitan University (2009)
• Honorary Degree from the University of East London (2009)

External links

• James Caan's Official Website
• Hamilton Bradshaw Website
• Bio at BBC2's Dragons' Den
• Interview with James in CEO Magazine
• Interview with James in Business Matters
• Silksoundbooks
• James Caan - Chairman of Fresh Egg
• James Caan - Chairman of webrecruit
• Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2008, The Daily Telegraph, How money stopped mattering for Dragons' Den mogul James Caan