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" Retail is my game. I spend every waking hour thinking about it. I started in the industry at the age of 18 after trying various other things that were mind-numbingly boring to me. "

Theo Paphitis

Age

Thinking

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" What's crucial in a High Street store is a compelling reason for people to shop there. Shops must offer excellent customer service - and 'theatre' is a must. "

" I'm not into cats; they aren't my bag. "

Theo Paphitis

Cats

Bag

" I've always maintained the basic business principles of keeping it simple, doing your homework, hard work, and common sense. "

" I'm a shopaholic. I really am. I can't help myself. I do go into, browse, and purchase from my own shops, too, although the CEOs who run my businesses wish I didn't. "

" Showing your emotions is not a weakness. "

" If you really want to sort out the High Street, you ask someone like Kate Swann at WHSmith, who has done a fantastic job of running profitable shops. "

" In my early teens, I was working in a Wimpy Bar and delivering cab company cards to make cash. I also ran a tuck shop at school. I struggled academically because of being dyslexic. When I saw other families and what they had, it inspired me. I thought, 'I can get that, too, if I work hard.' "

Theo Paphitis

School

Work Hard

" I love the English language, but I'm crap at it, so I might as well do what I'm good at. The same goes for my kids, who are also dyslexic. I won't pressure them to do anything. They've each got a trust and a mortgage-free property, which is a lot more than I had, so I know they will always be fine. "

" I am for a transactional tax at the point of purchase for both online and physical retail. "

Theo Paphitis

Tax

Retail

" Take calculated risks and limit your downside. "

" I used to see Triumph TR7s and E-Type Jags, and I used to think, 'One day, I'm gonna have one of those.' I remember seeing an E-Type and walking round it 40 or 50 times. "

" Women have to work harder to be in the same position as a fella because they often have to balance work with running a family. "

" What I've achieved with Boux Avenue is what I always wanted to achieve with La Senza. "

Theo Paphitis

Achieve

Avenue

" I know I have been lucky in business, and I am keen now to spread goodwill to others, of course not forgetting that very often, you make your own luck by making use of every opportunity. "

" Business isn't complicated; we complicate business. "

" My parents divorced, my brothers and I ended up living with my mother, and we were living with the choice of heating or eating. My mum was working, but she needed financial support to make ends meet. I had to have free school dinners and free school uniforms. "

" I'm incredibly passionate about business, about small businesses, and about kids being given the right skills so they are successful. "

" The more we learn about dyslexia, the more able we will be to help those with it. "

" People in emerging markets want to do business with the U.K. I don't see why the U.K. should be penalised for this. "

" Good businesses will survive good times and bad times. "

" We survived for hundreds of years under the old banking structure. You'd have clearing banks, then merchant banks doing the racy stuff, and then building societies where you'd join a waiting list for a mortgage. But then banks started buying stockbrokers, doing mortgages, and you ended up with these big banking groups doing everything. "

" The government must recognise that taxing retailers differently is reckless. "

" I started work at 13, had three or four part-time jobs, and learnt very quickly the values of work. "

" What makes business exciting is that you don't need a fancy degree, and anyone can do it. "

" I can walk all day in malls, shopping centres, high streets - I love it. "

" Entrepreneurship can be taught to people with average academic abilities - the proof of that is everywhere you look. "

" If you cannot bore your friends to death about your own small business, then something is seriously wrong. "

" No major technological change has ever been instituted by mankind without an array of negative consequences. The motor car has meant liberation for millions, but it has also caused congestion, environmental damage, and a disturbing death toll on the roads. "

" For me, the high street is a key part of how we live, what sort of community we are, how we get our news, and how we get our gossip. "

Theo Paphitis

Gossip

Live