26 Facts About Theo Paphitis

Theodoros Paphitis is a Greek-Cypriot British retail magnate and entrepreneur.

Theo Paphitis is best known for his appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den and as former chairman of Millwall Football Club.

Theo Paphitis is the owner of stationery chain Ryman, the homewares specialist Robert Dyas and lingerie retailer Boux Avenue.

Theo Paphitis was inaugurated as the university's Chancellor on 11 October 2018.

Theo Paphitis was born on 24 September 1959 in Limassol, British Cyprus, present-day Republic of Cyprus.

Theo Paphitis is the second of three brothers, with elder brother Marinos and younger brother George.

Theo Paphitis first lived in Old Trafford in Greater Manchester when his family arrived in the UK from Cyprus.

Theo Paphitis moved to London with his parents and Marinos when he was nine years old.

Theo Paphitis attended Ambler Primary School in Islington and Woodberry Down Comprehensive School in Manor House, where he battled with dyslexia, but began his entrepreneurial activities by running the school's tuck shop at the age of 15.

Theo Paphitis took a job as a tea boy and filing clerk at a City of London insurance broker.

Theo Paphitis gained a large market share for NAG by negotiating concessionary positions in Ryman stationery stores.

When Ryman became insolvent, Theo Paphitis approached the administrators and bought the company.

Theo Paphitis turned it around by improving relations with suppliers, and enthusing the management team, cementing his reputation for turning failing companies into highly successful and profitable businesses.

Theo Paphitis sold Red Letter Days with fellow Dragons' Den businessman Peter Jones.

In 2008, Theo Paphitis was one of several interested parties in bidding for failed retail chain Woolworths.

In March 2011, Theo Paphitis set up a lingerie chain, Boux Avenue, which has 30 UK stores.

In 2017, Theo Paphitis acquired London Graphic Centre, a specialist arts and stationery retailer based in London's Covent Garden.

Theo Paphitis is perhaps best known for his work to reduce football hooliganism, and appointing as Millwall manager Dennis Wise, and together they guided the club to their first official appearance in the final of the FA Cup and European football.

Theo Paphitis was known as a straight-talking but approachable and sincere 'dragon' who made many investments on the show, both alone and jointly with other dragon investors.

In 2010, Paphitis had a three-part television series on BBC Two called Theo's Adventure Capitalists.

In 2011, Theo Paphitis presented the seven-part BBC Two series called Britain's Next Big Thing.

In September 2019, Theo Paphitis returned to the seventeenth series of Dragons' Den for four episodes, stepping-in for Touker Suleyman, who had been recovering from a short-term illness.

In June 2021, Theo Paphitis returned to Dragons' Den, this time for its eighteenth series, for three episodes as a replacement for Peter Jones, due to him self isolating from COVID-19.

Theo Paphitis attributes his success to his natural common sense, and his favourite motto is a famous business school motto: "KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid".

Theo Paphitis has been criticised for some of his views on women.

Theo Paphitis voted for Brexit in 2016, describing the EU as a "failed experiment".