James Caan: The Recruiter Who Sat in the Den
James Caan
James Caan was born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1960 and came to Britain as a child. He made his name in recruitment, founding Alexander Mann in 1985 out of a small rented office in London.
Alexander Mann grew into a substantial recruitment group, and he went on to co-found Humana International, an international executive search network, before moving into private equity.
Hamilton Bradshaw and life after recruitment
After a spell studying at Harvard Business School he set up Hamilton Bradshaw, a private equity firm aimed at smaller British companies, which became the vehicle for most of his later investing.
That background is in buying into established, cash generating businesses rather than backing raw ideas, and it is the lens he brought to the panel.
Four series, then policy work
Caan joined Dragons' Den in 2007 for the show's fifth series, taking the seat Richard Farleigh had held, and left in 2010. Those series are catalogued on this site pitch by pitch.
In 2012 he was appointed chairman of the government backed Start Up Loans Company, which lends to new businesses that cannot raise ordinary bank finance, and he has also run a foundation supporting education projects.
Products James Caan backed in the Den
Media Displays
presented as a mobile digital advertising service
Peel Engineering
presented as the world's smallest production car also powered by an electric