Peter Jones

    (£20,000 - £35,000)

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Biography

A serial entrepreneur and huge success story, Peter is one of the best known ‘Dragons’ from the hit BBC series Dragon's Den. He gives an inspiring and honest account of his climb up the corporate ladder to become a multi-millionaire business tycoon.

As a schoolboy, Peter Jones dreamt of running a multi-million pound company – a dream that was shaped over the many hours he spent fantasising whilst sitting in his father’s leather office chair in a Windsor-based air conditioning firm.

Today, Peter has built a £200 million empire at the age of 39, million as owner, chairman and CEO of various businesses ranging from telecoms and leisure to publishing and media.

The success of his empire is the latest in a long line of achievements for Jones. At the age of 16 after completing the Lawn Tennis Association’s coaching examinations, Peter set up his first company, a successful tennis academy at a local club.

By the age of 28, Jones was the youngest ever head of PC Business at computer firm Siemens Nixdorf. He started his telecoms business in 1998. The firm, which is split into four main operating companies, experienced explosive growth with revenue totalling £14 million by the end of the first year and £44 million by the end of the second. Group turnover for 2005/2006 totalled in excess of £180 million with over £6 million pre-tax profits. The group counts every leading brand in the mobile industry among its business partners, whether as a supplier, customer or collaborator.

In 2003 Phones International Group was recognised as being amongst the most successful businesses in the UK, having been identified as 13th fastest growing business within the Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic UK Fast Track League Table. Jones has also received a number of personal accolades: in 2001 he was named as Emerging Entrepreneur of The Year by The Times/Ernst & Young, and was named 14th in the top 40 young entrepreneurs by the Daily Telegraph in 2005.

Peter Jones’s business interests now span many other areas than just telecommunications and include business services, entertainment, publishing, property, leisure and television.

2005 was a pivotal year for Jones, having appeared on the BBC’s ground breaking business television show Dragon’s Den, which is now recording its eighth series. Together with his business partner Theo Paphitis, Peter purchased struggling events firm Red Letter Days following the company’s collapse at the hands of fellow Dragons’ Den panellist Rachel Elnaugh and is committed to ensuring a successful future for the business. Last year, Peter also founded Wines4Business, an online retailer specialising in the sale of wine and champagne to corporate clients, Mymarina.com which provides wireless communications for the UK’s marinas and Wonderland Magazine, a new luxury lifestyle magazine.

Peter’s 2006 TV series, The American Inventor, aired in the US was an instant hit for America’s largest TV network ABC and is currently in its second series. The show Tycoon, in which Peter Jones fronted the hunt for the next big business tycoon, was aired in 2009.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

In 2009 Peter Jones founded the National Enterprise Academy (NEA) as a way to improve the entrepreneurial capabilities within the UK. The National Enterprise Academy is a centre of excellence for enterprise and entrepreneurship and has two campuses in Buckinghamshire and Manchester with a third opening in Sheffield September 2010.

In 2010, he Tweeted that, after being besieged by requests from followers, he has decided to launch his own clothing line; The Peter Jones Collection. The range of formal menswear, based on Peter’s own distinctive dress sense, is now available to buy on his website, with all profits going to charities designed to help young people have a brighter future

To book Peter Jones for your event, please contact Parliament on

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