Charles Dunstone
| Sir Charles Dunstone | |
|---|---|
 Dunstone pictured in 2005. | |
| Born |
Charles William Dunstone 21 November 1964 Saffron Walden, Essex, England |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Net worth |
 £605 million (2012)[1][citation needed] |
| Title |
Chairman of The Carphone Warehouse Chairman of TalkTalk Group |
| Spouse(s) | Celia Gordon Shute (m. 2009) |
Sir Charles William Dunstone (born 21 November 1964) is the chairman and (with David Ross[2]) co-founder, in 1989, of mobile phone retailer The Carphone Warehouse and chairman of the TalkTalk Group.
Early life
Dunstone was born in 1964, in the town of Saffron Walden in Essex. Dunstone was educated at Uppingham School, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), in the market town of Uppingham in Rutland, in Central England. Dunstone's father is an executive at BP.[3]
Business
Carphone Warehouse
Charles Dunstone first began selling mobile phones out of his flat on Marylebone Road in 1989. He was 25 years old and had £6000 of savings to start his business having previous worked at NEC as a sales executive.
It was whilst working at NEC that he first spotted the potential of mobile phones and the future of mobile communications. At that time, handsets were large, cumbersome and mainly purchased by big business and large organisations. Corporate clients were well catered for but small businesses, the self-employed and general public had nowhere to go. Dunstone realised that mobile phones would eventually become ubiquitous and named his company The Carphone Warehouse (CPW) to serve this larger market.
In July 2000 the company floated on the London Stock Exchange and based on an Issue price of 200p, the company was valued at approximately £1.7 billion.
In May 2008, Best Buy, a world-leading consumer electronics retailer, and CPW agreed to create a new company, Best Buy Europe.
Best Buy acquired 50% of CPW’s European and US retail interests for a cash consideration of £1.1 billion or $2.1 billion.
The assets of the newly formed company comprise CPW’s existing retail business, operating from more than 2,400 stores in nine European countries under CPW and Phone House brands. These include the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
CPW is today the world’s largest independent mobile communications retailer.
In 2013 Charles will announce the return of "Mowbli" the biggest most iconic character in Carphone Warehouse history.
The Carphone Warehouse (also trading as The Phone House[4]) is Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer.
In 2005 Dunstone's salary and bonus came to £689,000.[5] In the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 he was listed in 64th place, with an estimated fortune of £830 million.[6]
Dunstone employed the controversial ex-convict Ernest Saunders as a business consultant for Carphone Warehouse prior to its flotation.[7]
HBOS
- Non-executive Director of HBOS PLC.[8]
- HBOS is the holding company for Halifax plc and the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland.
- In 2005 Dunstone's fee was £56,000.[5]
The Daily Mail General Trust
- Non-Executive Director of the Daily Mail and General Trust.[8]
- DMGT is one of the largest media companies in the UK and has interests around the world in national and regional newspapers, television, radio, exhibitions and information publishing.
- In 2005 Dunstone's fee was £34,000.[5]
Independent Media Distribution PLC
- Non-Executive Director of Independent Media Distribution PLC.
- IMD is a distributor of radio advertising and programming for the advertising and music industries. Clients include ITV and BSkyB.
- In 2005 Dunstone's fee was £20,000.[5]
The Prince's Trust
- Council Member of The Prince's Trust and former Chairman of its trading subsidiary, the Prince's Trust Trading Ltd.[8]
- The Prince's Trust is a Registered Charity (in England) No 1079675. The Prince's Trust Trading Limited (a company registered in England No 3161821) is a wholly owned subsidiary and trades on behalf of The Prince's Trust. In their 2006 annual report, The Prince's Trust had a gross income of £56.8m and an expenditure of £40.8m.[9]
Qualifications
Dunstone has 3 A-levels, grades B,C & D.[3] He abandoned his business degree at Liverpool University after taking a gap-year with Torch Computers in Cambridge and then with NEC.[10]
Awards
In 2005 Dunstone was awarded The Daily Telegraph's Business Person of the Year.[11] He was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to the mobile communications industry and to charity.[12]
Personal life
Dunstone has established a charitable trust, which is the main sponsor of the Fulwood Academy school in Preston, Lancashire.[13]
Dunstone is married to Celia Gordon Shute, a public relations consultant.[14]
Dunstone is considered a member of the Chipping Norton set. [15] His hobbies include sailing. [16]
Footnotes
- ↑ "Charles Dunstone". Forbes. March 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
- ↑ "David Ross appointed to board of the National Portrait Gallery". 10 Downing Street. 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Davidson, Andrew (2006-05-16). "Dunstone drives into broadband". London: The Times. Retrieved 2006-11-03.
- ↑ The Phone House
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Annual Report 2005" (pdf) (Press release). The Carphone Warehouse. 2005. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
- ↑ "Sunday Times – Rich List". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ↑ "Mobiles boss walks the polar walk and proves he is not all TalkTalk". London: The Times. 2004-11-29. Retrieved 2006-11-03.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Charles Dunstone". Entrepreneurs’ Open Challenge. 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-05.
- ↑ "Extract from the Central Register of Charities maintained by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Main Charity 1079675, THE PRINCE'S TRUST". Charity Commission. 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-05.
- ↑ "Dial M for millionaire". London: The Observer. 2005-09-11. Retrieved 2006-11-03.
- ↑ Miller, Robert (2005-12-22). "Dunstone clinches best in business". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60173. p. 1. 16 June 2012.
- ↑ "Academy boss makes rich list". Lancashire Evening Post (Johnston Publishing). 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ↑ Quinn, James (2009-10-10). "Dunstone becalmed for island honeymoon". The Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group).
- ↑ Caroline Dewar (2012-03-05). "Who's who in the Chipping Norton set". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ↑ Tatler http://www.tatler.com/the-tatler-list/d/charles-dunstone
References
- Carphone Warehouse - Board of Directors
- Dunstone, Charles. "Charles Dunstone's Blog". Carphone Warehouse. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
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