John Caudwell

I realised I've got quite a talent for coming up with ideas for design. I've got so many ideas about fashion.

Some of the things I did in my early career were massive learning curves because I had no one to guide me. You learn very quickly because it costs you torment and trouble.

I suppose I have very undesirable traits. I am very critical, which is very undesirable. But it is good from a business point of view.

I don't think I'm going to live until I'm 70, no; I could die tomorrow. So there isn't a panic that time is running out, but there is an element that anything could happen.

I always felt, right from a youngster, that it was my destiny to be a success. It sounds a little bit egotistical, but I felt I had a calling to do something.

I decided to leave most of my wealth to my charitable foundation, which is not to be confused with my charity. My charity helps children directly. The charitable foundation will receive most of my legacy when I die.

There are lots of brownfield sites in Stoke, but they are not suitable for building executive homes. It needs to be surrounded by fields. It needs to be on greenbelt land. That's what executives want.

I will give away at least half my wealth during my lifetime and after my death. In the meantime, I'll continue to grow my wealth as much as possible so that the amount I bequeath to charities and worthy causes can be as substantial as possible.

Knowing that my ancestry had all been quite wealthy and owned their own businesses probably left me with the ambition to replicate what they'd done.

In the early days, I had everything to prove. A very working class lad with a burning ambition. A very crude way of measuring success is how much you are worth.

I believe in workers' rights when people are doing a good job.

I had challenges to overcome as a child, and that was good.