James Caan is one of the UK’s most successful and dynamic entrepreneurs. He made his fortune in the recruitment industry, which included the global success of his companies, Alexander Mann Group and Humana International, and he has been building and selling businesses ever since. In 2004 he founded private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw based in London’s Mayfair. The company specialises in buyouts, venture capital, real estate and now manages a portfolio of over 30 companies.

James is best known for joining the panel of the hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, where he invested in 14 companies and committed over £1m of investment, over 4 series’. In 2012, he was approached by CNBC to host The Business Class, a series which sees him joined by experts from a cross section of industries, looking at the challenges and opportunities faced by UK SMEs. Each 30 minute episode featured an innovative business which was seeking guidance to help it grow in the market place. The popularity of the series saw it recommisioned for a second series in October 2013.

James has received various prestigious awards including 'BT Enterprise of the Year', PricewaterhouseCoopers 'Entrepreneur of the Year' and Chairman of the Year at the International Business Awards 2013.

James has supported a variety of government initiatives including The Entrepreneur’s Forum; he was selected to join a panel of high profile business people who meet regularly to debate their views on enterprise policy.

In May 2012 he was appointed Chairman of Start-Up Loans, a government initiative to support young people with funding and mentoring to start up new businesses in the UK. To date the scheme has been hugely successful, backing over 19,000 entrepreneurs in just 18 months.

James also supports a number of charitable initiatives, both in the UK and abroad, as well as launching the James Caan Foundation to help underprivileged children get access to education.

James has written three bestselling books - his autobiography The Real Deal, Get the Job You Really Want and Start Your Business in 7 Days. Get the Job is based on his 30 years in the recruitment industry and reached No. 1 in 3 categories on Amazon, as well as becoming the best-selling practical business book of 2011. In Start Your Business, James uses his experience to help the new generation of entrepreneurs work out if their business ideas are workable and bankable. The book reached No. 2 in the Amazon business chart within two weeks of launching.

Becoming a recognised business and career expert, James has been able to share his expertise widely through regular columns with the Telegraph, the Evening Standard, the Sunday Express and more recently, the Huffington Post. Across the press, James aims to inspire, encourage and help those looking to start and grow businesses, as well as people looking to boost their career progress.

In October 2012, James was one of 150 people handpicked by LinkedIn to blog on the social platform. Since then, his tips have been well received by people at all levels across the globe, with over 6 million views and 1 million followers. This has taken him to 7th in the Global Influencer list, with more followers than Barack Obama and David Cameron.

James is extremely passionate about supporting small businesses and launched a free app, James Caan Business Secrets to help other entrepreneurs on their journey to success. The app was the fastest downloaded business app of 2011 and is regularly ranked in the Top 100 apps ever in Apps Magazine, with over 250,000 downloads to date. In 2014 the app was relaunched with additional features including three free audiobooks.