Insider decided to chase the entrepreneurial vibe this month and in doing so it managed to catch up with Plymouth's very own "Deluxe Delboy', Chris Dawson. Known for his no nonsense approach to business and to life in general, he tells Peter Jump why things are only getting better for those in the South West.
Bob Hoskins. As I follow him in a rapid march around the guts of his retail empire he definitely reminds me of Bob Hoskins' gangland boss, Harold Shand, in The Long Good Friday. As he points out the marketing team in a corner of the open plan, the analysts next to them and then the multilingual buying department in the distance - scouring the earth for a good deal on merchandise - it's obvious this is Chris Dawson's manor.
That's not to say there's any hint of menace about this austerity-to-Aston Martin entrepreneur. (A former outdoor market trader, he is currently 18th on the South West Business Insider Rich List with a worth estimated at £3150m, though Dawson, 55, hints it could be nearer £3200m.) As his employees laugh at his quick-fire quips there's no sense of them doing so because they're desperate to avoid being hung upside down from a meat hook.
In fact, Hoskins' other incarnation, as the face of BT who says: "It's good to talk", is probably more appropriate. Opinions and insights, anecdotes and advice continuously spurt out from him like water from a Baroque fountain.
My photographer asks if he can set him up for various shots and he is more than happy to oblige. This includes taking him outside to pose next to his new Bentley (a replacement for his Aston Martin, which he says was too unreliable) and a Merc with a personalised number plate (BO55 CDS - a gift from his employees, he says).
When I comment that premiership football manager, Sam Allardyce, also drives a Bentley, Dawson says he doesn't know who he is. His only sporting interest is motorcycle racing, him being a former motocross rider.
The flash motors look incongruous besides the drab, low-rise office building, situated in a soulless, windy business estate on the outskirts of Plymouth. It is something of a surprise to discover this anonymous structure is the headquarters for CDS (Superstores International) Ltd.
Trading as The Range, it was founded by Dawson in 1988 with a single store in Plymouth - now there are over 30 across the country. Each is packed with a massive array of home, leisure and garden wares, leading some to refer to The Range as Britain's answer to Ikea.
The HQ's interior proves as unimpressive as the outside, with a cramped reception on the first floor. This is decorated with various awards Dawson and his company have won over the years.
As Dawson takes me to his office (referred to as the deep freeze because the heating is turned off when it's not in use) there are cardboard boxes and odd items of merchandise piled up everywhere. But the fact that his HQ is in desperate need of a feng shui makeover doesn't seem to faze him.
Instead he tells me that he rents the place for just £32 a square foot, and that all but one of his stores is rented. It seems he is highly averse to taking on debt and that he intends CDS to be debt free by June 2008.
When I comment that some might say he's under leveraged, he responds in his gentle West Country brogue: "I've got no interest (payments), I've got no bank charges, so what's the cleverest? I think the bottom line is the cleverest, it's what makes me tick. I like to run the companies lean and keen, I also want to make sure I'm available for expansion, for new concepts and for any opportunity. You can't back a 5 o'clock winner at 6 o'clock. The main function is to be liquid and healthy."
When I ask him about the business outlook for the South West, he says: "For retail, the population will grow so that automatically makes retail grow."
In particular, Dawson sees more well-heeled professionals moving to the region in search of a better quality of life. He points out the stunning view from his office of the surrounding moorland as a reason for doing so.
During a notoriously tough year for the home improvements sector, CDS still made £36.6m profit to January 2006 (on nearly £3108m turnover), a figure rising to approximately £310m for 2006-07. But what are its prospects for the near future?
"Everyone's predicted a slump," he says, "and there will be a slump, but growth will still be goodx85 When the big boys throttle back we'll throttle up."
He also comments that CDS is "famously undermanned with managementx85 but what we have got is good". While this keeps the wages bill down and helps with pushing out that entrepreneurial vibe, an inevitable side effect is increased pressure on the man at the top. Dawson says he routinely puts in 12-hour days and works weekends.
Throughout our conversation he hints at hidden depths to his business activities. There's talk of venture capital activity and of high-powered property deals involving underdeveloped retail parks and City institutions.
So what does the future hold for Chris Dawson? Given that, by his own admission, he's a natural performer, becoming a celebrity entrepreneur seems an obvious next step. So it's no surprise that there are plans for him to front a TV show. It's also no surprise when he says that he won't be doing this just as an ego boost - there's also a business angle, he says with a sly wink.
I only hope that his TV persona matches how he is in the real world - affable and self-effacing, witty and a great story teller - to show that self-made business people aren't all hard-faced dragons. It would also be good if he could put across his passion for entrepreneurialism: he does what he does not so much for the money, but because, quite simply, he enjoys it.
Also in: November - December 2007
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How do you solve a problem like Millbay?
...or Gloucester docks, or Hartcliffe. Regneration is supposed to refresh the parts that other economic benefits cannot reach. Andy Coyne reports from toughest places in the South West regeneration game.
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The city of the future
Swindon is facing the future with bold statements and ambitious regeneration projects. David Thame reports.
