Phones 4 U billionaire founder John Caudwell vows to stop using heating
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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.
Caudwell, pictured outside his £10m house in Staffordshire, splits his time between the property and his stay in Mayfair
Pictured in the property’s Great Hall, Mr Caudwell is one of the high profile figures offering their homes to Ukrainian refugees
Caudwell says he gladly gave up his heating to deal a blow to Vladimir Putin
John Caudwell, 67, at the Mayfair house in London with his partner Modesta Vzesniauskaite, 36, a Lithuanian Olympic cyclist
“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.
John Caudwell and his partner, former Olympic cyclist Modesta Vžesniauskaite, 38
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.
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.”
But candle suppliers have revealed that their stocks are running low due to higher production costs
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.
Who is former Phones4U tycoon John Caudwell?
John Caudwell went from selling phones at boot fairs to over £1bn for his wildly successful company
Birmingham native John Caudwell, father of five, left his A-Levels for an apprenticeship at the Michelin tire factory in Stoke-on-Trent and ran a corner shop and mail order business before getting his big break with mobile phones .
A little over 30 years ago, he bought a bunch of handsets: it took him eight months to sell 26 big, clunky Motorolas from the trunk of his car, but they fetched £1,500 each.
From there, he built Phones4u, which was voted the UK’s fastest growing company two years in a row.
In 2003, the Caudwell Group employed more than 8,000 people worldwide and sold 26 telephones every minute. At the height of its success, Caudwell employed 14,000 people.
In 2006, at the height of the credit boom, he sold most of his majority stake in his Caudwell Communications group, netting him over £1.4 billion.
He cashed in again when Phones4u was sold six years ago, netting him another £100 million.
Caudwell, his ex-wife Kate, ex-partner Claire and four of his children have all tested positive for Lyme disease, which can severely damage the nervous system and vital organs.