Funny how things go in circles. Billionaire mobile phone tycoon John Caudwell made his millions by founding, building up and then selling the Phones4U empire.
Now the charity he set up, Caudwell Children, is raising money from recycled mobile phones under the banner of Caudwell Children Recycle.
The charity gets a minimum of £3 for every mobile phone recycled under the cash-for-mobiles scheme managed by the non-profit making Envirocharities.
Caudwell Children continues to do great things for youngsters with more than £1 million donated to children with wheelchair needs, £1.2 million in treatments for autistic children, and more than 200 donations to families with disabled children.
The charity celebrated its 10th anniversary in typically fine style, with a Butterfly Ball held in Battersea which attracted a glittering array of royalty and A-list celebs.
Guests included Sir Elton John, Sarah Ferguson with Princess Beatrice, Olympian Colin Jackson, Dame Shirley Bassey, Liz Hurley and Lulu.
John Caudwell’s fortune continues to prove resilient thanks to wise property investments. For a time it looked like the Caudwell coffers could get an extra boost when his former company, Phones4U, looked set to change hands.
He still holds a small stake in the business and would be due for a windfall if private equity firm Providence Equity – current owner of Phones4U – decided to sell. The firm is valued above £700 million, and electrical retailer Dixons was thought to be a potential suitor.
Providence Equity was rumoured to be in early discussions about a sale, but a sharp dip in profits is expected to put that on the back burner for the time being. Pre-tax profits fell from £33 million to £13.7 million.
John Caudwell has devoted much of his time to charity work since the Caudwell Group was sold in August 2006. The sale netted £1.46 billion. Three years earlier he sold his Singlepoint customer billing operation to Vodafone for £405 million.
When it was established, the firm took eight months to sell its first order of 26 phones. When it was sold, the Caudwell Group was selling 26 phones a minute and employed 8,000 people around the globe.
The 58-year-old father of five still lives close to his roots in Staffordshire, but now occupies the 50-room £7.5 million Jacobean Broughton Hall, near Eccleshall. He also has homes in Chelsea, and Les Arcs in France. His successful business career has paid for a helicopter, a six-seater plane and a £1 million Sunseeker motorboat.
He and his partner, Claire Johnson, had a terrifying experience in November when intruders broke into Broughton Hall and assaulted them before stealing cash and jewellery.
All management and administration costs for his charity are covered personally by John Caudwell so every penny raised can go directly towards helping children.
His business mind is still at work and he has stakes in Caudwell Marine – a boat engine company based in Capetown - and a leisure company. But he famously turned down opportunities to appear on The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den, not wanting to be seen as the token businessman lambasting contestants because it makes good TV.
He also has an extensive UK property portfolio under the Caudwell Properties umbrella, currently managed by Jones Lang LaSalle.
