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| James Caan: 'No parent is not going to help their children' | James Caan: 'No parent is not going to help their children' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| He named himself after The Godfather. Born Nazim Khan in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1960, the former Dragons' Den panellist and the government's newly appointed social mobility tsar decided to change his name after watching Hollywood star James Caan play Sonny Corleone in the acclaimed film. | He named himself after The Godfather. Born Nazim Khan in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1960, the former Dragons' Den panellist and the government's newly appointed social mobility tsar decided to change his name after watching Hollywood star James Caan play Sonny Corleone in the acclaimed film. |
| He does not conceal his inspiration. The words "The Godfather" appear next to a portrait of Caan in the offices of the six-storey Mayfair townhouse from which he runs his private equity empire. However, if it is a reference to his prowess as a mentor, then Caan might well wince as he enters his workplace this week. | He does not conceal his inspiration. The words "The Godfather" appear next to a portrait of Caan in the offices of the six-storey Mayfair townhouse from which he runs his private equity empire. However, if it is a reference to his prowess as a mentor, then Caan might well wince as he enters his workplace this week. |
| Just hours after he was announced as the face of the government's Opening Doors campaign to pressure big business into awarding work opportunities on merit – not nepotism – it emerged that his younger daughter Hanah, 25, has worked for Caan's companies almost since the day she left university. Her LinkedIn profile shows she has worked as an "adviser" to his Hamilton Bradshaw private equity firm since 2009, when she graduated from the London School of Economics. She is also a trustee of his James Caan Foundation charity, and an adviser to the Start-up Loans Company, a government-backed organisation chaired by her father. | Just hours after he was announced as the face of the government's Opening Doors campaign to pressure big business into awarding work opportunities on merit – not nepotism – it emerged that his younger daughter Hanah, 25, has worked for Caan's companies almost since the day she left university. Her LinkedIn profile shows she has worked as an "adviser" to his Hamilton Bradshaw private equity firm since 2009, when she graduated from the London School of Economics. She is also a trustee of his James Caan Foundation charity, and an adviser to the Start-up Loans Company, a government-backed organisation chaired by her father. |
| On Twitter Hanah describes herself as "sort of like Maggie Thatcher meets Paris Hilton", and has tweeted a picture of her dad with David Cameron with the caption "Daddy and the Prime Minister #dreamjob #lovetory #startuploans #itsnoteveryday #instaPM". In another tweet after visiting Downing Street she said: "Just another meeting at No. 10 #dayinthelife #bestjob #startuploans". | On Twitter Hanah describes herself as "sort of like Maggie Thatcher meets Paris Hilton", and has tweeted a picture of her dad with David Cameron with the caption "Daddy and the Prime Minister #dreamjob #lovetory #startuploans #itsnoteveryday #instaPM". In another tweet after visiting Downing Street she said: "Just another meeting at No. 10 #dayinthelife #bestjob #startuploans". |
| Caan's elder daughter, Jemma-Lia, works for a recruitment company in which Caan holds an investment. | Caan's elder daughter, Jemma-Lia, works for a recruitment company in which Caan holds an investment. |
| In damage-limitation mode on Wednesday, Caan appeared on the Today programme – 24 hours after he went on to promote the social mobility programme – to defend himself against charges of nepotism and hypocrisy. | In damage-limitation mode on Wednesday, Caan appeared on the Today programme – 24 hours after he went on to promote the social mobility programme – to defend himself against charges of nepotism and hypocrisy. |
| His pitch might have struggled to get past fellow dragons. He said Jemma-Lia "spent four years pursuing many jobs to establish herself on her own career path" before joining the company linked to him six months ago, and said she still had to go through a "rigorous recruitment process". Caan tried to explain that Hanah had done "four years of internships" before she landed a job at the family firm, but he was forced to concede that those internships were at his companies. | His pitch might have struggled to get past fellow dragons. He said Jemma-Lia "spent four years pursuing many jobs to establish herself on her own career path" before joining the company linked to him six months ago, and said she still had to go through a "rigorous recruitment process". Caan tried to explain that Hanah had done "four years of internships" before she landed a job at the family firm, but he was forced to concede that those internships were at his companies. |
| After his performance this week, it's unlikely he will be called back as a pundit on the BBC any time soon. Even before his second stint on Today, an email sent to senior editors read: "He is the most ridiculous man and I am baffled how he is appearing on various BBC programmes … Think before you book." | After his performance this week, it's unlikely he will be called back as a pundit on the BBC any time soon. Even before his second stint on Today, an email sent to senior editors read: "He is the most ridiculous man and I am baffled how he is appearing on various BBC programmes … Think before you book." |
| Family is important to Caan, a public figure who has tried to keep his personal life private. He admits that the name change deeply offended his father, who boarded a UK-bound boat to seek his fortune within a year of his son's birth. It wasn't the first time Caan had disappointed his father. Young Nazim was being groomed to take over his dad's business selling leather jackets on Brick Lane, east London, which he has said was a "huge pressure". Sixteen-year-old Caan started sneaking out to nightclubs, which he says was "seen as bringing shame" on his "pretty liberal Muslim family". | Family is important to Caan, a public figure who has tried to keep his personal life private. He admits that the name change deeply offended his father, who boarded a UK-bound boat to seek his fortune within a year of his son's birth. It wasn't the first time Caan had disappointed his father. Young Nazim was being groomed to take over his dad's business selling leather jackets on Brick Lane, east London, which he has said was a "huge pressure". Sixteen-year-old Caan started sneaking out to nightclubs, which he says was "seen as bringing shame" on his "pretty liberal Muslim family". |
| Family relations soured further when he refused to do his O-levels and moved out across London to a tiny flat in Kensington. His next move underlines why the deputy prime minister hired Caan. "Dad's business was too easy an option – car keys, salary, start Monday – but I wanted to know what it was like to make it on my own," he said in an interview encouraging young people to start their own businesses in 2008. | Family relations soured further when he refused to do his O-levels and moved out across London to a tiny flat in Kensington. His next move underlines why the deputy prime minister hired Caan. "Dad's business was too easy an option – car keys, salary, start Monday – but I wanted to know what it was like to make it on my own," he said in an interview encouraging young people to start their own businesses in 2008. |
| A gift of the gab landed him a job in a fashion industry recruitment agency, where he "loved interviewing the candidates – most of whom were female". | A gift of the gab landed him a job in a fashion industry recruitment agency, where he "loved interviewing the candidates – most of whom were female". |
| "I had many girlfriends and went to all the best clubs. For a 17-year-old, life was pretty near perfect," he says in his book, The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons' Den. One "attractive, feisty and well-educated" interviewee – Aisha – turned down Caan's job offer but did, eventually, agree to become his wife. They married when he was just 21 in Regent's Park mosque on New Year's Day 1983. | "I had many girlfriends and went to all the best clubs. For a 17-year-old, life was pretty near perfect," he says in his book, The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons' Den. One "attractive, feisty and well-educated" interviewee – Aisha – turned down Caan's job offer but did, eventually, agree to become his wife. They married when he was just 21 in Regent's Park mosque on New Year's Day 1983. |
| A successful career in the recruitment industry, built up over the 80s and 90s, led to ministers seeking out his expertise. The social mobility post is the latest in a string of government advisory roles – including on trade and industry, startup loans and international development – that Caan has signed up to, in what one acquaintance says is part of his "desire to be made a lord, like [Lord] Sugar". | A successful career in the recruitment industry, built up over the 80s and 90s, led to ministers seeking out his expertise. The social mobility post is the latest in a string of government advisory roles – including on trade and industry, startup loans and international development – that Caan has signed up to, in what one acquaintance says is part of his "desire to be made a lord, like [Lord] Sugar". |
| He said parents should "encourage their children to explore their own opportunities and define themselves in their own right," but said parents will always have an "innate feeling to help their children into jobs. I'm no different." | He said parents should "encourage their children to explore their own opportunities and define themselves in their own right," but said parents will always have an "innate feeling to help their children into jobs. I'm no different." |
| Caan set off on the first day in the role as the government's social mobility tsar in the City on Wednesday, but, for once, he was trying to tone down the media attention. "I've got nothing more to say. I've said everything already," he said before boarding a "Destination Talent" bus with Nick Clegg and a dozen teenagers for a trip to a book publisher in Staines, Surrey. The deputy prime minister, whose banker father helped secure him an internship at a Finnish bank when he was starting out, was forced to step in and defend Caan. | Caan set off on the first day in the role as the government's social mobility tsar in the City on Wednesday, but, for once, he was trying to tone down the media attention. "I've got nothing more to say. I've said everything already," he said before boarding a "Destination Talent" bus with Nick Clegg and a dozen teenagers for a trip to a book publisher in Staines, Surrey. The deputy prime minister, whose banker father helped secure him an internship at a Finnish bank when he was starting out, was forced to step in and defend Caan. |
| Friends say they don't expect this week's fiasco to put Caan off politics. "He's a very shrewd businessman and he likes the influence of politics," says Paul Sagoo, founder of the Asian Awards, which Caan has judged and presented. "He is well in with Cameron and Clegg. We have had George Osborne and lots of other politicians to our dinners, and they all know him. It gives them something Asian to talk about." Sagoo concedes that Caan has made "big mistakes" and often says the wrong thing. "But he does a lot to support young businesses coming up and there is an element of him that really wants to do good," he says. "The Pakistani community doesn't have a lot of good role models, and it's very nice to see that there is someone who has done well and the government have faith in." | Friends say they don't expect this week's fiasco to put Caan off politics. "He's a very shrewd businessman and he likes the influence of politics," says Paul Sagoo, founder of the Asian Awards, which Caan has judged and presented. "He is well in with Cameron and Clegg. We have had George Osborne and lots of other politicians to our dinners, and they all know him. It gives them something Asian to talk about." Sagoo concedes that Caan has made "big mistakes" and often says the wrong thing. "But he does a lot to support young businesses coming up and there is an element of him that really wants to do good," he says. "The Pakistani community doesn't have a lot of good role models, and it's very nice to see that there is someone who has done well and the government have faith in." |
| He says the row over Caan's support of his children has been totally overblown. "No parent is not going to help their children, especially Asian parents, you will give your children every opportunity you can." | He says the row over Caan's support of his children has been totally overblown. "No parent is not going to help their children, especially Asian parents, you will give your children every opportunity you can." |
| It's not the first time Caan has attracted controversy. Three years ago TV cameras accompanying him on charity work in Pakistan filmed him offering 100,000 rupees (£725) to buy a baby girl from her parents in a flood-hit village. | It's not the first time Caan has attracted controversy. Three years ago TV cameras accompanying him on charity work in Pakistan filmed him offering 100,000 rupees (£725) to buy a baby girl from her parents in a flood-hit village. |
| "My brother lives here and he desperately wants to have a baby," he said to his translator. "We could give this little baby the best life she could ever have." | "My brother lives here and he desperately wants to have a baby," he said to his translator. "We could give this little baby the best life she could ever have." |
| He was later forced to admit that the offer had been "clearly wrong". | He was later forced to admit that the offer had been "clearly wrong". |
| His business portfolio, which began in a Pall Mall office so small that he struggled to close the door, is worth an estimated £70m. He has also been embroiled in a string of high court battles. | His business portfolio, which began in a Pall Mall office so small that he struggled to close the door, is worth an estimated £70m. He has also been embroiled in a string of high court battles. |
| The Caan empire includes a business that hires out doctors to the NHS for up to £120 an hour. DRC Locums, which provides doctors to NHS and private hospitals, made a pre-tax profit of £1.4m on revenue of £53m in 2012. | The Caan empire includes a business that hires out doctors to the NHS for up to £120 an hour. DRC Locums, which provides doctors to NHS and private hospitals, made a pre-tax profit of £1.4m on revenue of £53m in 2012. |
| Among several falling-outs with the other dragons, entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne refused to invest alongside Caan after claiming that Hamilton Bradshaw was owned by an offshore company to avoid paying UK tax. | Among several falling-outs with the other dragons, entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne refused to invest alongside Caan after claiming that Hamilton Bradshaw was owned by an offshore company to avoid paying UK tax. |
| "I'm not feeding the coffers of the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands," Bannatyne said in 2010. Caan, who left Dragons' Den in 2011, has denied his companies are held offshore. | "I'm not feeding the coffers of the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands," Bannatyne said in 2010. Caan, who left Dragons' Den in 2011, has denied his companies are held offshore. |
| While he's not close to approaching Bannatyne's estimated £430m fortune, Caan is still seriously rich. He signs restaurant bills without even looking at the total, and has had a butler. | While he's not close to approaching Bannatyne's estimated £430m fortune, Caan is still seriously rich. He signs restaurant bills without even looking at the total, and has had a butler. |
| "It's a huge luxury," he admitted in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2008. "I got him 12 years ago and he's my Jeeves. I'd seen Arthur with Dudley Moore in it and I just thought, 'I want one of those.'" The butler, who used to work for the royal household, even "folds and packs away shirts, with tissue paper in between them". | "It's a huge luxury," he admitted in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2008. "I got him 12 years ago and he's my Jeeves. I'd seen Arthur with Dudley Moore in it and I just thought, 'I want one of those.'" The butler, who used to work for the royal household, even "folds and packs away shirts, with tissue paper in between them". |
| Home is a "huge new house in north London", which he says has "more bedrooms than I can remember and parking for 10 cars". Wheels are also an important status symbol for Caan. His autobiography contains a potted history of his car-owning progress, from a second-hand MG Midget to a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit by the age of 24. | Home is a "huge new house in north London", which he says has "more bedrooms than I can remember and parking for 10 cars". Wheels are also an important status symbol for Caan. His autobiography contains a potted history of his car-owning progress, from a second-hand MG Midget to a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit by the age of 24. |
| His latest cars are a Rolls Royce Phantom with the number plate 28 JC and a Maybach with C4 ANS on the plates (but he says his butler was horrified at the idea Caan wanted to have a got at driving them himself). | His latest cars are a Rolls Royce Phantom with the number plate 28 JC and a Maybach with C4 ANS on the plates (but he says his butler was horrified at the idea Caan wanted to have a got at driving them himself). |
| It should be easy to identify the rest of the family's cars in his massive parking garage. "My daughter's name is Jemma and she's got 'Miss Jem'. My wife Aisha has got 'Aisha'," he said in a promotional interview for a number plate registration firm. | It should be easy to identify the rest of the family's cars in his massive parking garage. "My daughter's name is Jemma and she's got 'Miss Jem'. My wife Aisha has got 'Aisha'," he said in a promotional interview for a number plate registration firm. |
| "We can't really find something appropriate for my daughter Hanah yet, but she is looking." | "We can't really find something appropriate for my daughter Hanah yet, but she is looking." |
| Brief profile | Brief profile |
| Born: Nazim Khan in Lahore, Pakistan, 1960. | Born: Nazim Khan in Lahore, Pakistan, 1960. |
| Career to date: Left school at 16. Worked for a small recruitment agency in Holborn. Founded his own recruitment firm, Alexander Mann, in Pall Mall. Sold the firm and became a multimillionaire. An investor on Dragons' Den from 2007-11. Now runs private equity fund Hamilton Bradshaw. | Career to date: Left school at 16. Worked for a small recruitment agency in Holborn. Founded his own recruitment firm, Alexander Mann, in Pall Mall. Sold the firm and became a multimillionaire. An investor on Dragons' Den from 2007-11. Now runs private equity fund Hamilton Bradshaw. |
| Biggest regret: Dropping out of school, so at 40 he enrolled to study management at Harvard Business School. | Biggest regret: Dropping out of school, so at 40 he enrolled to study management at Harvard Business School. |
| Low point: Leaving home at 16, "hoping and praying" that someone would convince him to stay. No one did. | Low point: Leaving home at 16, "hoping and praying" that someone would convince him to stay. No one did. |
| High point: Selling Alexander Mann. | High point: Selling Alexander Mann. |
| What he says: "I loved interviewing the candidates [early in his career] – most of whom were female … I had many girlfriends and went to all the best clubs." | What he says: "I loved interviewing the candidates [early in his career] – most of whom were female … I had many girlfriends and went to all the best clubs." |