John Caudwell, a former Dragon on the British show Dragon's Den, founded the electronics retailer Phones 4u.
Caudwell established the business in 1987 as Midlands Mobile Phones with his brother Brian. The company later expanded under the Phones 4u name and became one of the United Kingdom’s prominent mobile-phone retailers. Its stores sold mobile handsets and contracts from multiple network operators rather than operating as a single network.
Caudwell appeared as an investor on Dragon's Den during the programme’s early years. He is also known for founding the Caudwell Children charity, which supports disabled children. A common mix-up is confusing Phones 4u with Carphone Warehouse: the latter was founded separately by David Ross, Julian Dunkerton and Charles Dunstone.