In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, announcing a new £100M property venture, he said that since leaving the show he has spotted a hole in the market for a programme that addresses business in a serious manner.
“In British media today there are no serious business shows,” he said. “There is a gap in the market. The type of show you would create would be a serious show because it would be dealing with real businesses with established customers. They need leverage, they need expertise. They need a Dragon.”
Caan went on to say that current shows such as Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice do not teach people about business and by failing to address the growing interest in business, broadcasters were missing a large potential audience.
“In the UK the two hot topics are sport and business. It used to be sport and music. Today I think the successful entrepreneur is yesterday’s rock star. Whether you are Stelios or Branson they are perceived as stars because of what they have achieved.”
The kind of programme Caan envisages would work with more established companies in the SME sector, who are currently still struggling to regain support from banks to assist with growth.
Caan suggests that the investments and involvement by the show’s investors would also be larger. “It would be something that focuses on investments of between £500,000 and £5m. There are people out there who would comfortably invest that much. There are hundreds of private equity firms out there and lots of very successful entrepreneurs.”
It is clear that Caan is looking to continuing his career as a small screen entrepreneur now that he has been replaced in the Den by Hilary Devey. When asked whether he was in talks about starting a new business programme he replied: “No comment.”
There was much speculation when Caan announced he was leaving the hit UK show that he would be a main participant in a version set to be broadcast in his native Pakistan, so for fans of James Caan’s smooth approach, you will have to just stay tuned to see if he reappears soon.
