Dragons' Den - Theo Paphitis profile
15th October 2007 - Born in Cyprus, Theo Paphitis came to England when he was six and was running the tuck shop at his north London school at 15.
Starting out as tea boy at a City insurance broker, he found his flair for retail as a shop assistant at Watches of Switzerland.
Theo returned to the insurance industry in sales at the age of 20 and discovered his natural ability for pointing out the obvious and applying common sense.
In no time he was helping businesses in difficulty and this soon became a full-time role.
He has turned Ryman, Contessa, La Senza and Partners the Stationers into successful and profitable retail businesses.
He now heads up a 350-store chain and a group turnover approaching £250m.
His latest ventures include Red Letter Days, the company he salvaged out of administration with fellow Dragon Peter Jones.
Read the profiles for the other 2007 Dragons...
