He claims to have created 20 millionaires already inside his company. Caudwell's sales have grown from £1m a decade ago to £1.1bn last year. His aim is to increase them 20-fold to £20bn by 2020.A former used car dealer, Mr Caudwell is a fan of Baroness Thatcher, a collector of fast motorbikes (his VTR1000SP-1 from Honda accelerates from 0-60 mph in 2 seconds) and drives a white £200,000 Bentley.He is also a fitness fanatic who cycles up to 100 miles a day.. Sir Iain Vallance, president of the Confederation of British Industry, warned business leaders last night to be on their guard against the rise in "people power".
Sir Iain Vallance, president of the Confederation of British Industry, warned business leaders last night to be on their guard against the rise in "people power". Addressing the CBI's annual dinner in London, Sir Iain said companies had to do more to promote their contribution to society in the face of the increased threat of direct action and a widely held belief that business suffered from a "democratic deficit".Highlighting the recent protests against fuel prices, genetically modified crops and animal testing laboratories and this month's anti-capitalist protest in the City, Sir Ian told the gathering of 1,000 business chiefs: "This growing manifestation of 'people power' in the raw is definitely not good news for business, particularly if national politicians hesitate in the face of threats or, just as bad, over-react to them."The May Day affair the other week was contained But we cannot afford to drop our guard. As often as not, it is business that is one the receiving end of the pressure."Sir Ian said the technology now being harnessed by large corporations to bypass traditional nation states could equally be used by those intent on disruption: "Direct action, for example, is planned on websites, facilitated by the mobile telephone networks and draws its strength from the global networked media."He said the business world needed to be prepared for a "people-powered digital networked world" that could challenge the economic and political givens of the last half-century.The CBI chief said it was impossible to know what the effect on business would be. "All we can really say is that we cannot take business' role in society for granted," he said."We need to promote the undoubted benefits we bring, if only because much of the outside world is highly sceptical that they exist at all. In the view of many, shareholder value accrues to the benefit of the few, at the expense of the employee and the consumer," Sir Ian said."Just as they see world trade as something devised by the developed world to exploit the underdeveloped. In their view, business labours under a massive democractic deficit," he said.. The receivers to Cammell Laird yesterday revealed the first firm offer for one of the shipbuilder's British yards, while it separately emerged that the company's former chief executive has led a buyout of its Gibraltar operations. The receivers to Cammell Laird yesterday revealed the first firm offer for one of the shipbuilder's British yards, while it separately emerged that the company's former chief executive has led a buyout of its Gibraltar operations. John Stafford, who resigned as the company's group chief executive in January, has led a team mostly comprised of the company's local directors which has agreed to deal to buy Cammell Laird Gibraltar for an undisclosed sum.Mr Stafford, who created the modern Cammell Laird, resigned after a debacle over a £50m contract that threw the company into financial crisis.
An Italian customer refused to pay the company for work it had carried out to extend a cruise liner.The chief minister of Gibraltar, Peter Caruana, said: "It is great news for the yard's employees, apprentices and for the economy as a whole. It is a great relief to have resolved this issue without the trauma that there has been elsewhere ... The management of the yard enjoys the full confidence of the government."In a separate move, PricewaterhouseCoopers, who were appointed receivers in April, that said that Eric Welsh had made a bid for the company's Teesside yard. Mr Welsh was managing director of the ship repair firm Tees Dockyard that owned the site until 1997, when it was sold to Wear Dockyard. Cammell Laird bought it the following year.It is understood that PwC is looking for more money than Mr Welsh has offered and is now in detailed negotiations with him. It is confident that a deal can be agreed.The list of potential buyers for part or all of Cammell Laird has been whittled down to seven.
