Phones 4 U billionaire founder John Caudwell vows to stop using heating

Phones4U tycoon John Caudwell has vowed to turn off his heating this winter to give Vladimir Putin the biggest kick he can.

The billionaire businessman, 70, insists that he will only heat one room in his house, despite having more than enough resources to withstand the cost of living.

Caudwell says he’s happy to feel the pain on his Staffordshire estate, The Mirror reports.

He said: ‘I know we are in a fuel crisis and everyone is concerned, but we should all use less energy and I am going to put into practice what I preach. I’m going to heat one room where we’ll live and 98% of the house will stay cold.

“Putin’s war is funded by the fuel industry and anything I can do to make it a few bucks worse I will.”

Reflecting on his own working-class childhood in Stoke-on-Trent, he said: ‘We used to wear warm clothes. I’m not saying we should all live like this, but there are things we can do.”

Caudwell says consumers can do their part to hit the Russian regime and help prevent the massacre of Ukrainian civilians.

Caudwell founded his mobile phone wholesale business in 1987, mainly selling phones to merchants – initially at a loss for the first two years of its existence.

But gradually the company gained momentum as the Caudwell Group, which also included network provider Singlepoint.

Caudwell sold Phones4u in 2006 for £1.5 billion to private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Caudwell and his partner Modesta Vžesniauskaite, 38, invited a Ukrainian woman and her son to live in a separate two-bedroom house on the grounds of their Eccleshall estate.

Describing the British government’s initial response to the invasion as “shameful,” Caudwell told his guests that his supply of free food and utilities would be there “as long as they need it.”

In an interview with Hello! magazine, former Lithuanian-born Olympic cyclist Mrs Vzesniauskaite shared memories of childhood “fear and trauma,” and the Soviet Union’s attempts to occupy her country on Bloody Sunday in 1991.

“I feel heartbroken for the people whose lives have been destroyed,” said Mr. Caudwell, who is offering his detached two bedroom coach house in the grounds of his £10 million Staffordshire town house Broughton Hall.

“Imagine yourself in that situation… you don’t have a house, and the fear of death and of being murdered in the street is constant. It’s incomprehensible.’

Speaking of their tenant, Caudwell said the woman’s husband had stayed behind in Ukraine to fight against Russian invaders.

“They build their own lives. But the first months were very difficult. The mother was very emotional all the time and kept on bursting into tears,” he added.

“Sometimes it was because she was afraid of her husband back home in the armed forces and wondered if he was dead or alive. And other times she was overwhelmed with gratitude for our kindness.

“We need to get more medical aid to Ukraine and help them with ambulances and supplies.”

Caudwell’s drastic pledge to attack the Russian tyrant comes as the National Grid warned that ‘Blackout Britain’ could face a bleak winter with possible three-hour power cuts should Russia halt its gas supplies to Europe.

The warning prompted the energy giant to propose a new scheme to pay consumers to run their washing machines or charge their electric cars outside peak hours.

They would be the first planned blackouts in decades, if they continue, and power plants can’t get enough gas to keep the country running.

System operators have warned that gas shortages, which last year produced 40 per cent of Britain’s electricity, could mean planned three-hour blackouts in some areas to protect the supply of heating homes and buildings.

Britons face a cost of living crisis as the government pledges £150bn to keep energy bills at £2,500 this winter, with many businesses saying they face extinction without further assistance.

It is not the first time that the prospect of blackouts has been raised by the energy giant. But this year’s warning has much more urgency as Vladimir Putin keeps pressure on gas supplies to Europe amid his faltering war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Liz Truss had previously urged European leaders at a summit in Prague to help “keep the lights on” as the standoff with Russia raises fears of shortages in the coming months.

The prime minister is calling on groups to agree that gas and electricity connections between countries must remain open this winter.

Individual households are also encouraged to help prevent power outages, ‘save money and bring Britain back’ by choosing to consume energy during off-peak hours.

It follows a similar Octopus Energy pilot scheme, with customers changing their habits and changing their energy use in a two-hour off-peak period.

The new scheme, to be rolled out in November, could save £100, Ovo Energy has told customers.

However, the National Grid has already warned of the need to balance the cost of the project with household incentives, suggesting a rate of 52p per kWh could be applied.