PETER JONES

We're having to spend a lot of time teaching our entrepreneurs how to teach and, I tell you, it isn't easy and that's why we should have an immense amount of respect for our teachers.

When I was eight, my parents saved up to send me to private school, but I found it so tough that I often escaped through the back fence to walk the four miles to my father's office in Windsor. I only lasted a few terms, but it didn't curb my ambition.

I remember my first memory is sitting in my dad's chair in a small office and I used to imagine that I was picking up the phone and issuing commands. And I was only seven.

The first thing I think, I was building computers, I started to build a computer when I was 17 or 18 at home, an IBM compatible computer, and then I started to sell computers, and when I sold a computer to a company called Ligo I think, and they were selling systems which became blockbuster.

If someone comes onto 'Dragons' Den' and annoys me, I'm going to tell them exactly what I think.

For many young people on-the-job training and hands-on experience is the real route to employability, not a university education.

There are lots of people who say you are born an entrepreneur - you either have that gene or not. I really disagree with that.

I want my kids to be polite and respectful, stand on their own two feet.

I'm not a guy who plays political games, and I believe absolutely in one method, which is directness.

I'm 6ft 7in and I was a bit like a giraffe on the tennis court, though I did play at county level.

Being an entrepreneur is probably the most lonely thing you can do.

I've certainly learnt there's nothing more important than cash - cash flow issues are one of the biggest causes of company failures.

Throughout my career, some of my best hires have been people who have bypassed the traditional route of university and learned their skills through apprenticeship schemes or alternative education courses.

I've got my own businesses I run every day and I like to think I'm a nurturer rather than a firer, but the reality is, if somebody continues not to succeed and do the right thing for the business they lose the job because they are affecting the livelihoods of others.

You've got to do the research. You've got to understand the market place, know your competitors.

If I'm filming 'Dragons' Den', we work flat out until 8pm, although I love seeing the weird, wonderful and plain delusional.

So I went and got my first job at 28, trying to think what I am going to do, I've never worked for anybody, so I decided to go and write and send my CV off to everyone.

I find it very, very difficult to watch myself on TV.

If you want to make your own decisions about where you work, what you do, what you earn and what you buy, then being able to make money is an important factor.

In the 1980s when I was growing up in the Berkshire town of Maidenhead I was heavily into tennis. It was the era of Borg and McEnroe. I used to spend hours hitting balls against a wall, imagining I was beating them both.

When I was 12 I worked with someone - it was actually an English teacher at my school, John Woodward. He was the only teacher in the school to have a top-of-the-range Porsche and all the trappings of success, so it was very interesting for me to find out how he did it. He was probably the wealthiest English teacher in the community.

I've played a massive and growing part in making business glamorous and even, yes, sexy.

All young people can benefit from practical business knowledge but especially those from the poorest parts of the country.

I lost my computer business when I was 29 because I gave credit to firms I didn't investigate. I lost my house and had to move back in with my parents and then I lived in an office for six months.

My kids certainly aren't going to have the money. They don't need it.