Few entrepreneurs have had as rich and varied a business career as John Timpson, the chairman and chief executive of Timpson Ltd. He has witnessed his father being forced out of what was the family business. He has negotiated a management buy-out from Hanson. He has twice mortgaged his house to finance career-changing deals. Today, the business that bears his name is a flourishing and profitable nationwide chain of over 320 outlets. John Timpson was the king of niche retailing before the term was even invented. This book was conceived as a set of notes and ideas for John's son, James, to prepare him for taking over the company. "They constitute the best advice I can give you," father tells son, "25 years of experience." Gritty, frank and above all highly practical, Dear James will provide all managers with an abundance of tips on how to run a business better. But Dear James is far more than that. Warm, funny and highly personal, it's a true original: a business book that comes from the heart.