T-shirts that made a business magnate

“It took me two weeks to earn enough money to buy a text book. In those days textbooks on economics were American and very expensive.” He worked out a much better plan. Turkey at the time was almost like a closed shop. Teenagers were desperate for jeans and T-shirts. “The demand was there. It was a case of creating a means of getting the supply through customs.” Suitcases in the boot of a car were the perfect solution. It took a couple of weeks to make enough money to support himself for a year – a much better use of his time than washing up in a steamy restaurant kitchen for six months.

A Turkish Cypriot, Safa came to the UK in 1963 to study, graduating in 1970. There weren’t many job opportunities at the time. He was interested in capital and the first thing he sold was life insurance. “If you sell life insurance, you can sell anything,” he says. The young man soon discovered that selling is the thing – whatever the business you go into: “Even politicians have to sell themselves.”