John Caudwell is the Dragons' Den investor associated with the UK mobile-phone retailer Phones 4u.
Caudwell co-founded the business that became Phones 4u, which grew during the rapid expansion of mobile-phone ownership in Britain. The company sold mobile handsets and contracts through a national retail network and became one of the country's best-known mobile-phone retailers.
Caudwell appeared as a dragon in the early British series, bringing experience from telecommunications retail rather than from traditional banking or venture-capital funds. His later public profile has also been shaped by philanthropy, particularly through the Caudwell Children charity.
Phones 4u is now a historical business reference: the retailer entered administration in 2014 after mobile-network partners stopped supplying it. That later collapse can obscure its earlier scale and success, but Caudwell remains closely identified with the company's creation.