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'''Peter Jones''' (born [[18 March]], [[1966]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[business]]man with interests in [[Mobile phone|mobile telecommunications]], [[television]], [[Mass media|media]], [[leisure]] and [[property]].
{{Infobox Aust school
| name = Maitland High School
| image = Captain.JPEG
| motto = ''En Avant''<br>([[Latin]] ''Get a dog up ya'')
| established = 1884
| type = [[Public school|Public]], [[Secondary school|Secondary]], [[Day school]]
| principal = Mr David Hingston
| captains =
| city = [[Maitland, New South Wales|Maitland]]
| state = [[New South Wales]]
| country = [[Australia]]
| campus = [[Suburban area|Suburban]]
| enrolment = 871 (7-12)
| colours = Sepia
| homepage = [http://www.maitland-h.schools.nsw.edu.au]
}}
'''Maitland High School''' (MHS) is situated in [[Maitland, New South Wales|Maitland]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]] on High Street, Maitland East.


== History ==
==Biography==
Peter Jones attended Desborough School where he studied A-Levels in Economics, Biology and Geography.
Maitland High School opened in 1884 with [[John Waterhouse (headmaster)|John Waterhouse]] MA as the first Headmaster, and was originally called Maitland Boys Home, with its sister school being Maitland Girl's High (now [[Maitland Grossmann High School|Maitland Gross Man High]]). For two years, 1988 and 1989 the school was named Evatt High School, but reverted back to Maitland High School due to attachment issues and the need to keep local signwriters in business.


Jones' business career began at the age of 17; a gifted junior county tennis player, after completing the [[Lawn Tennis Association]]’s coaching examinations, he set up his first company, a successful tennis academy at a local club. His second venture was a computer business where he manufactured PCs under his own brand and in his mid twenties opened a [[cocktail]] [[bar]] based on the [[Tom Cruise]] film ''[[Cocktail (film)|Cocktail]]'' on which he lost £200,000 after deciding to sell it. In his late twenties he lost his [[computer industry|computer business]] due to customers failing to pay him. He was forced to give up his four-bedroom home in [[Bray, Berkshire|Bray]], his [[BMW]] and [[Porsche]] cars and move back in with his parents after living in an office for six months.<ref name="SundayTimes1">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/article2158112.ece|title=Tycoon’s costly bid to outdo Tom Cruise|publisher=Sunday Times|date=2007-07-29|accessdate=2008-07-21}}</ref> He then joined [[Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme|Siemens Nixdorf]], and became head of the PC Business in the UK the same year at only 28, the youngest ever head of a business unit.
In 2007, the school had an enrollment of 871 students and seven goats.


After working for [[Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme|Siemens Nixdorf]] he worked in the telecoms market for 12 months and made enough money to set-up his next venture [[Phones International Group]] in April 1998. The firm experienced explosive growth with revenue totalling £14 million by the end of the first year and £44 million by the end of the second. The company was one of the fastest growing businesses in Europe. Group turnover for 2005/2006 was in excess of £150 million. The group counts every leading brand in the wireless communications industry among its business partners, whether as a supplier, customer or collaborator. Jones is worth an estimated £150 million.
The school colours are black and white, and it's mascot is a flamboyant magpie named Terrance. The school houses were originally Scobie, Hughes, Waddy, Portus, MacMullen and Fraiser, now amalgamated to Scobie-Hughes (red), Waddy-Portus (blue), MacMullen (yellow) and Fraiser (green). Each school house has its own chant, but nobody can remember them.


===Television career===
The school has a building once used as a boarding house for students who lived a fair distance away, such as Duckenfield, but it now houses the library. Duckenfield now houses parts of the Hinton pub after the 2007 floods. The school was used as an evacuation centre during the 2007 flooding of the Hunter River, though everyone would have rather been in Hinton.
Jones came to public prominence in the UK for his appearance on [[BBC Two]]'s ''[[Dragons' Den (UK)|Dragons' Den]].''


After coming up with a TV show idea called The Inventor, which he took to [[Simon Cowell]] to see whether he would be interested in partnering with him, he managed to sell the idea to the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC Network]] in America. When it aired in March 2006, it became a No. 1 show for ABC in America - the network's biggest success for a Thursday primetime slot in years. Jones also featured as a judge in his own creation on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC's]] ''"[[American Inventor]]"'' - co-produced by [[FremantleMedia|Fremantle North America]], Cowell's [[SyCo]] and Jones's ''"Peter Jones Television"'' company.
Maitland High School is the second oldest high school in the state, though is sensitive about its age. It has a purple rinse in its hair and often votes for the conservative candidate in local elections.


After signing a "[[Golden handcuffs|Golden Handcuffs]]" deal with [[ITV]] to appear as their new "face" of business programming, on [[September 21]], [[2006]] Jones appeared on [[GMTV]] to talk about ''"Dragons' Den."'' and his new [[ITV1]] show ''[[Tycoon (TV series)|Tycoon]]'' - solely produced by the ''"Peter Jones Television."'' company<ref>[http://www.peterjones.tv Peter | Jones<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> On [[June 27]], [[2007]], after just 2 episodes of ''Tycoon'' had been broadcast, ITV announced that it would be moved from the prime time slot of 9-10pm on Tuesdays due to bad ratings, even though it got 2.1 million viewers which was more than the UK premiere of The Apprentice and Dragons Den when they both aired in 2005. The series returned on Monday, [[July 9]], [[2007]] as a 30-minute format for the 10pm slot.<ref>{{ cite news
One of its former Science faculty head teachers was briefly employed by NASA, until he was let go for poor performance. He was deemed qualified enough to teach at Maitland High.
| url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a63023/itv-yanks-tycoon-from-prime-slot.html
| title = ITV yanks 'Tycoon' from prime slot
|date=2007-06-27
| author = Neil Wilkes
| publisher = [[Digital Spy]]
}}</ref>


Jones returned to ''Dragons Den'' for the sixth UK series, starting July 2008. He is known for his regular conflicts in the den with fellow dragon, [[Duncan Bannatyne]]. On one occasion, he was so disgusted with Duncan for unprofessionally undercutting his bid he responded with "You've just put a guy on the bloody edge here and you've just completely been a sly little shit"
The school's legal studies classes have often participated in organised Mock Trial competitions. Success in these competitions has helped keep the ex-student incarceration rate extremely low, even though some people still live in the rough parts of Metford.


When appearing on the Dragons Den, Jones likes to wear extravagant socks with his elegant suit, that was designed by him, as he is a great believer in dressing well.
There is also the Maitland High Old Boys and Ex-students Union, which regularly assists the school with donations and scholarships for students who need all the help they can get.


Peter Jones took over from Gordon Ramsay as the face of BT Business. The campaign features in a TV advertisement <ref>{{ cite news
The school features a 2 metre high fence around its borders, to give the school its trademark feel of a concentration camp, but without the concentration. During the 1990's the gas chamber was the IT staff common room.<ref>http://www.maitland.hs.education.nsw.gov.au/</ref>
| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article1109659.ece
| title = HE terrifies wannabe entrepreneurs on hit TV show Dragon’s Den
|date=2008-04-30
| author = Nadia Brooks
| publisher = [[The Sun]]
}}</ref> alongside the
[[Gremlins]], who attack the whole office leading to an IT meltdown. The
campaign announced the fact that [[BT]] Business offers 24-hour IT and
Communications support for all business customers.


===Other businesses===
During 1998 the school was sponsored by Mustafa's Kebab House and Cafe, Maitland. At this time it was owned by the second Mustafa. His kebabies continue to be the best on this side of the Hunter River.
In the summer of 2005, Jones teamed up with another Dragons' Den star, [[Theo Paphitis]], to buy the gift experience company [[Red Letter Days (company)|Red Letter Days]] from fellow panellist [[Rachel Elnaugh]], under whose ownership it had collapsed.


Peter also invested in many small businesses between 2004/8, including firms like [http://www.wines4business.com Wines4Business.com], an online retailer specialising in the sale of wine and champagne to corporate clients, as well as [http://www.celcius.co.uk Celcius], a specialist recruitment business. He has many investments from the BBC show Dragon's Den including [http://www.wonderlandmagazine.com Wonderland], a new luxury lifestyle magazine, Square Mile International, providing data services for marinas (which he sold to BT), [http://www.generatingcompany.co.uk The Generating Company], a contemporary circus company, i-Teddy and [[Reggae Reggae Sauce]] among others.{{Fact|date=August 2008}}
Due to the quality of maths teaching at the school, the quadrangle between four major school buildings is generally referred to as "The Oval". The actual oval shaped grass feature near school's border is then referred to as "over there, going for a smoke".


He owns a TV production company called Peter Jones TV, and his business portfolio also includes a range of property investments (his nine properties include a Portuguese villa that he bought from DJ [[Chris Evans (presenter)|Chris Evans]] <ref name="SundayTimes1"/> and a mansion in Beverly Hills, California).
The schools strict exercise regime has been recently enforced by locking all but the front entrance gates during school hours, forcing the 'whoppers' to walk the long way around.


==See also==
===Personal life===
Divorced, he lives with his girlfriend Tara Capp and their three children Natalia, Isabella, and Tallulah, in a home in [[Buckinghamshire]]. He also has two children with his ex-wife – Annabelle and William – who live with their mother in [[Salisbury]].
*[[List of Government schools in New South Wales]]

An admitted car freak, his first car was an [[Alfa Romeo]] [[Alfa Romeo Alfasud|Alfasud]], while his business car is presently a [[Maybach]] [[Maybach 57 and 62|57]].<ref name="SundayTimes1"/>

He is known for his height and came 4th in the "star in a reasonably priced car" on the motoring programme, [[Top Gear (current format)|Top Gear]] and was told on air by Jeremy Clarkson that if he lost a bit of weight (he is 17 stone and 6 foot, 7inch) he would be the fastest celebrity ever to have appeared on the show.

On the 12th August 2008 he was challenged by [[The Sun Newspaper]] to sit a 90 minute A-Level examination in Business Studies<ref>{{ cite news
| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1566810.ece
| title = Testing time for Dragon brain
|date=2008-08-12
| author = Caroline Iggulden
| publisher = [[The Sun]]
}}</ref>. With nothing to gain and a lot of dignity to lose he accepted the challenge and got an 'A' without having any background on the two-year course.

==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.maitland-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ Maitland High School Website]
*[http://www.peterjones.tv/ Peter Jones - Official Site]
*[http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/ NSW Schools website]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/thedragons/peter_jones.shtml Dragons' Den Biography]
*[http://www.tycoon.com Tycoon]
*[http://www.celcius.co.uk Celcius]
*[http://www.Wines4Business.com Wines4Business]
*[http://abc.go.com/primetime/americaninventor/bios/peter_jones.html American Inventor]
*[http://www.phonesintgroup.com/peterjones.html Phones International Group]
*[http://www.redletterdays.co.uk/AboutUs Red Letter Days - Gift Experience Voucher Company part owned by Peter Jones ]
*[http://www.forgottenchildren.org.uk/ Forgotten Children Charity]
*[http://www.peterjones.tv/forums/ Peter Jones Community Forums]

*{{imdb name|id=1814229|name=Peter Jones}}
{{DragonsDenUK}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Peter}}


[[Category:High schools in New South Wales]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Public schools in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1884]]
[[Category:English businesspeople]]
[[Category:British businesspeople]]
[[Category:English television personalities]]
[[Category:Participants in American reality television series]]


[[pt:Peter Jones]]
{{Australia-school-stub}}

Revision as of 16:15, 13 October 2008

Peter Jones (born 18 March, 1966) is a British businessman with interests in mobile telecommunications, television, media, leisure and property.

Biography

Peter Jones attended Desborough School where he studied A-Levels in Economics, Biology and Geography.

Jones' business career began at the age of 17; a gifted junior county tennis player, after completing the Lawn Tennis Association’s coaching examinations, he set up his first company, a successful tennis academy at a local club. His second venture was a computer business where he manufactured PCs under his own brand and in his mid twenties opened a cocktail bar based on the Tom Cruise film Cocktail on which he lost £200,000 after deciding to sell it. In his late twenties he lost his computer business due to customers failing to pay him. He was forced to give up his four-bedroom home in Bray, his BMW and Porsche cars and move back in with his parents after living in an office for six months.[1] He then joined Siemens Nixdorf, and became head of the PC Business in the UK the same year at only 28, the youngest ever head of a business unit.

After working for Siemens Nixdorf he worked in the telecoms market for 12 months and made enough money to set-up his next venture Phones International Group in April 1998. The firm experienced explosive growth with revenue totalling £14 million by the end of the first year and £44 million by the end of the second. The company was one of the fastest growing businesses in Europe. Group turnover for 2005/2006 was in excess of £150 million. The group counts every leading brand in the wireless communications industry among its business partners, whether as a supplier, customer or collaborator. Jones is worth an estimated £150 million.

Television career

Jones came to public prominence in the UK for his appearance on BBC Two's Dragons' Den.

After coming up with a TV show idea called The Inventor, which he took to Simon Cowell to see whether he would be interested in partnering with him, he managed to sell the idea to the ABC Network in America. When it aired in March 2006, it became a No. 1 show for ABC in America - the network's biggest success for a Thursday primetime slot in years. Jones also featured as a judge in his own creation on ABC's "American Inventor" - co-produced by Fremantle North America, Cowell's SyCo and Jones's "Peter Jones Television" company.

After signing a "Golden Handcuffs" deal with ITV to appear as their new "face" of business programming, on September 21, 2006 Jones appeared on GMTV to talk about "Dragons' Den." and his new ITV1 show Tycoon - solely produced by the "Peter Jones Television." company[2] On June 27, 2007, after just 2 episodes of Tycoon had been broadcast, ITV announced that it would be moved from the prime time slot of 9-10pm on Tuesdays due to bad ratings, even though it got 2.1 million viewers which was more than the UK premiere of The Apprentice and Dragons Den when they both aired in 2005. The series returned on Monday, July 9, 2007 as a 30-minute format for the 10pm slot.[3]

Jones returned to Dragons Den for the sixth UK series, starting July 2008. He is known for his regular conflicts in the den with fellow dragon, Duncan Bannatyne. On one occasion, he was so disgusted with Duncan for unprofessionally undercutting his bid he responded with "You've just put a guy on the bloody edge here and you've just completely been a sly little shit"

When appearing on the Dragons Den, Jones likes to wear extravagant socks with his elegant suit, that was designed by him, as he is a great believer in dressing well.

Peter Jones took over from Gordon Ramsay as the face of BT Business. The campaign features in a TV advertisement [4] alongside the Gremlins, who attack the whole office leading to an IT meltdown. The campaign announced the fact that BT Business offers 24-hour IT and Communications support for all business customers.

Other businesses

In the summer of 2005, Jones teamed up with another Dragons' Den star, Theo Paphitis, to buy the gift experience company Red Letter Days from fellow panellist Rachel Elnaugh, under whose ownership it had collapsed.

Peter also invested in many small businesses between 2004/8, including firms like Wines4Business.com, an online retailer specialising in the sale of wine and champagne to corporate clients, as well as Celcius, a specialist recruitment business. He has many investments from the BBC show Dragon's Den including Wonderland, a new luxury lifestyle magazine, Square Mile International, providing data services for marinas (which he sold to BT), The Generating Company, a contemporary circus company, i-Teddy and Reggae Reggae Sauce among others.[citation needed]

He owns a TV production company called Peter Jones TV, and his business portfolio also includes a range of property investments (his nine properties include a Portuguese villa that he bought from DJ Chris Evans [1] and a mansion in Beverly Hills, California).

Personal life

Divorced, he lives with his girlfriend Tara Capp and their three children Natalia, Isabella, and Tallulah, in a home in Buckinghamshire. He also has two children with his ex-wife – Annabelle and William – who live with their mother in Salisbury.

An admitted car freak, his first car was an Alfa Romeo Alfasud, while his business car is presently a Maybach 57.[1]

He is known for his height and came 4th in the "star in a reasonably priced car" on the motoring programme, Top Gear and was told on air by Jeremy Clarkson that if he lost a bit of weight (he is 17 stone and 6 foot, 7inch) he would be the fastest celebrity ever to have appeared on the show.

On the 12th August 2008 he was challenged by The Sun Newspaper to sit a 90 minute A-Level examination in Business Studies[5]. With nothing to gain and a lot of dignity to lose he accepted the challenge and got an 'A' without having any background on the two-year course.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tycoon's costly bid to outdo Tom Cruise". Sunday Times. 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  2. ^ Peter | Jones
  3. ^ Neil Wilkes (2007-06-27). "ITV yanks 'Tycoon' from prime slot". Digital Spy.
  4. ^ Nadia Brooks (2008-04-30). "HE terrifies wannabe entrepreneurs on hit TV show Dragon's Den". The Sun.
  5. ^ Caroline Iggulden (2008-08-12). "Testing time for Dragon brain". The Sun.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maitland_High_School&oldid=245016655"