Peter Jones (entrepreneur): Difference between revisions

For other uses, see Peter Jones (disambiguation).

Peter Jones (born 18 March, 1966) is an English businessman with interests in mobile telecommunications, media, leisure and property. The Sunday Times Rich List 2005 estimates he is worth at least £180 million.

Jones' business success began when he started his own tennis academy at the age of just 16. During his twenties he ran a thriving computer business which allowed him to amrry his childhood sweetheart me, own a nice house, a BMW and a Porsche 911, and plenty of money to spend. Through a combination of circumstances, personal mistakes and a few major customers going out of business, he lost the business. He set up a computer support business and then a restaurant, which ended up being a fun if costly mistake.

He ended up broke aged 28, and his marriage ended. He joined Charles Dunstone's Carphone wharehouse business selling mobile phones, and within 12 months was running the business in the UK.

As the founder of Phones International Group, Jones now heads one of the most successful privately owned companies in the UK. He founded the company in April 1998 and has watched it experience rapid growth, with projected revenues expected to exceed $500 million in 2006.

In the summer of 2005, Jones teamed up with another Dragons' Den star, Theo Paphitis, to buy the gift experience company Red Letter Days from fellow panellist Rachel Elnaugh. The company, which was on the verge of collapse, has been turned around and is now trading profitably again. Through his appearance on the programme, Jones has invested in several start-up ventures including style magazine Wonderland and Square Mile International, which provides data services for marinas. Jones launched a TV production company in 2006. His business portfolio also includes a range of property investments.

To some derision from his critics, he has self-styled himself as an "ultrapreneur" which he defines as "a radical spirit whose restless pursuit of innovative business excellence is unbounded; recognised as a super-heroic leader of hearts and minds". Jones has since said the term is tongue-in-cheek although he is "absolutely committed to, and believes in what it stands for."

Jones came to public prominence in the UK for his appearance on BBC Two's Dragons' Den^[1].

After a meeting with Simon Cowell made possible through mutual friend Max Clifford, in April 2006 Jones featured as a judge in his own creation on ABC's "American Inventor" - co-produced by Fremantle North America, Cowell's SyCo and Jones's "Peter Jones Television" company.

After signing a 'Golden Handcuffs" deal with ITV to appear as their new "face" of business programming^[2], on 21 September, 2006 Jones appeared on GMTV to talk about "Dragons' Den." and his new ITV 1 show "Tycoon" - solely produced by the "Peter Jones Television." company^[3]

Jones two other children, Annabel and William from his marriage to childhood sweetheart, Caroline whom he married at 22. The couple split up in Jones's late twenties, and he says on leaving his Children: “It was the hardest thing in my life. Forget setting up a company and running a multimillion-pound empire: the hardest thing was leaving my children.”

Jones presently lives in Beaconsfield, Bucks, with partner of ten years, Tara Capp. They have three children together: Natalia, Isabella and Tallulah. Both Jones's Father David and Tara's Father Clive Capp work for Phones International Group.

Jones set up a charity called Forgotten Children to provide funding for organisations looking after children who have slipped through the normal system of care.

• Jones stands at 6ft-7in tall^[4]

• Peter Jones - Official Site
• Dragons' Den
• American Inventor
• Phones International Group
• Red Letter Days - Gift Experience Voucher Company part owned by Peter Jones
• Forgotten Children Charity

• Peter Jones at IMDb