Sir Richard Harpin

And of course it wasn't.

Many British entrepreneurs fail in America.

And I was there for six years.

I sent a really good guy that worked for me and ran the UK, sent him to America in 2003.

Six years later, and the business was still really small, we were making less than $10 million annual profits.

And I'm a great believer in the power of mentors.

There was a guy that I came across that was Americanized, but he was a Brit who founded Capital One in the US.

A guy called Nigel Morris.

He was a co-founder.

And I thought, he can help me to crack America.

So I emailed him, no response.

I sent a direct mail letter, then a DHL, urgent, important, still no response.

And one evening, 11 o'clock UK time, 6pm, East Coast, Washington DC, which is where he lived.

I didn't have his cell number, but I did have his landline office number.

And I called it.

And lo and behold, he answered the phone himself.

And I said, you don't know me.

I'm a struggling British entrepreneur trying to make it big in America.

And I just need an hour of your time.

And he said, oh, I do remember your letters and your emails, and I'm sorry I didn't respond.