Caudwell set for US mobiles boost

MOBILE phones tycoon John Caudwell is poised to take on the Americans with a US expansion that could ultimately include handset retailing, airtime selling, distribution, repairs and accessories.

Stoke-on-Trent-based Caudwell - with a £700m fortune one of Britain's richest and most successful entrepreneurs - regards the US mobile phone industry as primitive compared with the UK. 'The States are pretty much where the UK market was eight years ago,' he said.

Caudwell's privately-run Caudwell Group operates the 260-store Phones 4 U chain, as well as the 20:20 phones distribution business, Singlepoint airtime packager and the Discovery gadget shops.

Caudwell, who is recovering from a trampolining accident in which he broke his neck, said he is prepared to live in the US for a year if necessary if the opportunity proves big enough. He is in discussions with US retailers about his Dextra accessories offshoot supplying shops with the clipon covers featuring pop stars and company logos that have taken the UK industry by storm.

But he has much bigger ambitions, believing that the US could provide sales of £1bn or more within five years. 'I'm not going out there to play around,' he told the London Evening Standard's Business Day section in an exclusive interview. 'Basically the whole market you see in the UK could be replicated in the US.'

However, he said he will initially just dip his toe in the water, mindful of the dozens of over-optimistic British companies that have come a cropper in the US. 'I'm not saying that we are guaranteed to succeed. What I am saying is that we are guaranteed not to fail in a big way.' He has ruled out expanding in conjunction with a US partner. 'Joint ventures are a disaster,' he said.

The proportion of Americans with a mobile phone is about only 40%, compared with 65% in Britain and 80% in Scandinavia. Handsets are large and clunky and coverage is poor.

Last year was a tough year for Caudwell Group as mobile-phone market penetration reached saturation point. However, group sales grew from £1bn in 2000 to £1.45bn. Before the slide in telecom asset values, Caudwell Group was valued at around £1bn.

It has already expanded modestly into Spain and Germany, but has been much less aggressive on the Continent than rival Carphone Warehouse. It pulled out of the Netherlands four years ago.