Redhotcurry Review by Lopa Patel
Redhotcurry Rating: ( 2 flames)

James Caan is a master of reinvention. Born as Nazim Khan in Pakistan, the son on a textile merchant, he gives the reader his rag-trade to riches story complete with tear-jerking estrangement and reunion, philanthropy and healthy dose of schmaltzy business advice thrown in. His book may be entitled "The Real Deal" but I am not sure he is "The Real McCoy".

Armed with two philosophies that he learnt from his father "observe the masses and do the opposite", otherwise known as "spot an opportunity and capitalise on it" and "always looks for a win: win" otherwise known as "stating the obvious", he leaves home at sixteen, turning his back on his family. Using his guile, he rents an apartment, sublets it to make the rent payments and starts his career.

No lie is left untold as he finds his metier as a recruitment consultant. He lies to female interviewees to get cheap dates until, one day, he finds himself enamoured with a young woman looking to set up a fashion business. He strings her along by promising to invest in her business and then charges the entire £30K investment required onto credit cards. The young James Caan is fortunate to find himself at the start of the credit boom.

His metamorphosis from Nazim Khan to James Caan is dealt with simply as a "decision to change my name officially had been one of convenience. All my credit cards were in the name of Caan, and professionally it was how I was known". Caan spared little thought for the impact on his family and even less time thinking about his innate desire to reinvent himself, although he acknowledges that "in Asian families tremendous importance is attached to carrying on the family name". And yes, he does take the name from actor James Caan who starred in 'The Godfather'!

Spotting an opportunity to make money in the recruitment business, he sets up Alexander Mann, choosing the name to represent an educated, upper-class city gent, and starts out in a small rented office (the size of a broom cupboard) in Pall Mall. The entrepreneurial Caan is not averse to letting clients think that he owns the building.

Several chapters later, Caan has discovered that his true talents lie in a healthy line in "sales patter", an ability to recognise talent in people and an unerring skill in asking questions. He is fortunate enough to hang on to some truly talented and loyal people so before long Alexander Mann is a Plc and he is offered £130 million for it at the height of the stock market boom.

He then turns his attention to Private Equity, founding Hamilton Bradshaw. "I had a vision of an old family firm in an oak-panelled office in Mayfair, something traditional and very English. I had in mind a couple of old-fashioned City gents in bowler hats". Presumably the names Mr Bradford and Mr Bingley were already taken, so Caan settled for Mr Hamilton and Mr Bradshaw. His ventures with the firm, investing in a broad range of sectors, bring him to the attention of BBC producers for 'Dragons Den' and here we see the penultimate reinvention of Nazim Khan.

The 'Dragon's Den' TV show gives Caan unprecedented exposure in main stream media and now the business opportunities for his firm Hamilton Bradshaw come flooding in. One can only hope that the BBC asks for a percentage of these businesses to repay the licence fee payer.

Caan is undoubtedly a "player" on the business scene. Quick to spot profit opportunities and skilled with numbers, he has a number of unique talents that have helped him to business success. But it is unlikely that anyone else can emulate his success by the same means. Ultimately, his guile and artifice make James Caan a fascinating character, but not one that I particularly like.

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