Dragons in Bust Up

[alan45]

ENTREPRENEUR James Caan stepped up his battle with co-star Duncan Bannatyne last night, saying he could not work with a Dragon holding a criminal record.

Bannatyne sparked the row by slagging off Pakistan-born Caan's 'non dom' tax status, saying he could no longer partner a Dragon using offshore firms.
Caan, who has set up a health chain which could encroach on Bannatyne's gym empire, has hit back.
Referring to his co-star's spell in military prison for trying to throw his Navy chief off the side of an aircraft carrier, Caan said: "I've got no beef with any Dragon so long as they have the means to invest and they don't have a criminal record."
A Dragons' Den insider predicted "fireworks" when series eight begins filming next week.


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0l7cI7UiV


I have been following this on twitter its good crack

[Siobhan]

oohh interesting.. I always thought Caan and Bannayne worked well together.. obviously not

[moonstorm]

Himmm, I think they probably do but they are just generating some news stories to get everyone interested in it????

[alan45]

Its part of an ongoing argument between the two of them about Caans Non Dom status. Bannatyne claims that Caan is not paying his full UK taxes.

[alan45]

Dragons' Den entrepreneurs James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne have entered a war of words over Caan's UK tax status.
Last month Bannatyne said he thought it was "unfair" that, as a non-dom, Caan did not pay tax in the UK on money he earned overseas.
In Wednesday's Evening Standard Caan responded: "I do not apologise for my country of origin, Pakistan."
Bannatyne retaliated, telling the paper Caan was "playing the race card" and "personalising the whole thing".
The spat comes a week before the new series of Dragons' Den is due to be filmed.
'Hypocritical'
Bannatyne's original comments came in an article for The Daily Telegraph - which has now been removed from their website.
The businessman noted that Caan had recently acquired five health clubs, which he claimed would compete unfairly with his own fitness empire.
"As I pay UK tax on all of the earnings that fund my lifestyle, and corporation tax on all of the profits made by my businesses, I am clearly at an unfair disadvantage," he wrote.

I've got no beef with any Dragon, so long as they have the means to invest on the show with me, and as long as they don't have a criminal record
James Caan
"It's just as well James and I get on so well, and there couldn't be a nicer man to be in competition with, but you see my point."
Caan is a non-dom, and as such pays taxes on his UK earnings but not on any made abroad that are not brought into the UK.
He has strongly refuted any suggestion that his chain of health clubs, Nuyuu, is managed by a board of directors outside of the UK.
In a statement published in The Evening Standard, the entrepreneur insisted he had no problem with any of his Dragons' Den colleagues, but said there were restrictions on who he would co-operate with.
"I'm happy to invest with anyone in the Den. I've got no beef with any Dragon, so long as they have the means to invest on the show with me, and as long as they don't have a criminal record."
Some newspapers have interpreted this as a reference to Bannatyne's court martial and dishonourable discharge from the Navy as a teenager.
Bannatyne told BBC News he thought Caan's comments were "hypocritical" as he was involved with The Prince's Trust and The Big Issue publication, both of which work with former criminals.
He added that at a meeting at the BBC on Monday, Caan had "refused" to shake his hand.
Caan did not immediately return a call placed by the BBC News website regarding Bannatyne's comments.
In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: "Dragons' Den is not a team effort. It is all about entrepreneurs pitching to individual Dragons in the hope of winning backing for their ideas, and five hard-headed investors looking for the best deal."
Bannatyne, a Labour party donor who has publicly backed Gordon Brown, says his comments have not been made for political ends - but admitted on his Twitter account that he was lobbying for a change to the tax laws regarding non-doms.

[alan45]

THE stars of TV's Dragons' Den could be soon saying "I'm out" to THEMSELVES in a big cull of millionaire panellists.

The BBC is secretly plotting a shake-up of the hit show that could signal the Dragons' End for James Caan, Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden.

But Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne - the most wealthy dragons - are likely to be safe.

Bosses of the BBC2 series are in the process of recruiting a number of new dragons to judge next year.

A telly insider told us: "The producers are planning a big overhaul of the show.

"They're approaching a lot of new businessmen and women - they'd like some younger millionaires and more women on the panel too."

Internet entrepreneur James Simpson - the boyfriend of model Sophie Anderton - is one of the big business names approached to join the show.

The 28-year-old tycoon was recently named among the 50 richest young people in Britain by the Sunday Times Rich List.

Our source said: "He's exactly the sort of dragon they want. He's young, self-made and would bring glamour to the panel."

The show, currently in its seventh season, sees entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to the panel who decide if they want to invest.

Last night a spokesman for the BBC said: "It is far too early to talk about the next series and any comment on who the Dragons may be is nothing more than pure speculation."

[alan45]

DRAGONS' Den star Duncan Bannatyne told shocked fans on Twitter that he was considering killing himself as his marriage hit the rocks.
Straight-talking Scot Duncan, 62 - who has a history of depression - told his 350,000 followers on Friday: "My day could not have been worse. Suicide is a considered option."
Earlier he had tweeted: "Is death the end? Or is there more?"
His morbid words came as he battled to save his 4½-year marriage to second wife Joanne, 45.
A friend said yesterday: "They have had problems but they are trying to work it through. They still consider themselves a married couple and are trying to sort things out.
"There is no third party. This is not about another woman. The problems are just those that can arise between any married couple."
Duncan was cheered up by a boozy night on Sunday with a pal and a daughter from his first marriage.
He told his Twitter followers "they pulled me out of deep depression".
And yesterday morning he wrote: "Hungover after an evening out with my lovely & supportive daughter."
A tweet on June 7 suggesting he had turned to drink over the heartache read: "Sat at home alone drinking too much red wine now x."
Duncan, who is worth £430million, was filming BBC business favourite Dragons' Den at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Bucks, yesterday and refused to comment on his marriage.
Wife Joanne also declined to comment at their home at Wynyard, Teesside, where she lives with their children - Emily, 11, and Tom, nine.
The couple met after his first marriage to Gail, mum to his four eldest children, crumbled in the mid-1990s.
He previously said of the collapse of his first marriage: "In the run-up to the separation, I was very unhappy.
"I'd get in the car, drive to work, stop in a lay-by and start crying. I came very close to considering suicide. I knew life just wasn't right."
Duncan made his fortune from nursing homes, health clubs, casinos and property.


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz1PGEkf221