Bio
James Caan is a Pakistani-born British entrepreneur and television personality best known for starring as one of the "Dragons" on the reality television series Dragons' Den, from 2007-2010.
He began in business working out of a room the size of a shoebox on Pall Mall and has been creating, building, and selling businesses ever since.
James says his father, who worked day and night to establish his leather-trading business when he moved to London from Pakistan in the 60s, is his inspiration to work hard, be successful and give something back.
He left school at 16 and rather than joining the family business decided to go it alone, taking office and retail jobs until he found his forte in recruitment. In 1985, he set up the Alexander Mann Group, one of the UK's leading HR outsourcing companies, and achieved a turnover of £130m before selling it to a private equity firm in 2002.
At this time he also changed his name from Nazim Khan to James Caan after seeing a film by the famous actor and an alternative way to spell "Khan"; this also helped him in his recruitment company, as the name was more easily recognisable.
James also co-founded an executive headhunting firm with partner Doug Bougie, which they successfully expanded globally through its Humana International brand, growing to over 147 offices across 30 countries before it was bought by a New York-listed company.
A graduate of Harvard Business School's prestigious Advanced Management Programme, in 2003 Caan was named PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entrepreneur of the Year and was a Resident Entrepreneur Mentor for MBA students at London Business School.
In 2006, the James Caan Foundation was set up to help children in both the western and developing world. James supports the NSPCC's full stop campaign as well as being involved in a number of educational charities, helping deprived children in the UK and India to get a good education.
James is also proud to have built schools in his native Lahore, Pakistan where local children can attend lessons for free. He lives in London with his wife and enjoys regularly meeting up with his two grown-up daughters.