Simon Woodroffe (born 14 February 1952) is an English motivational speaker and entrepreneur. He started the

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

chain

YO! Sushi YO! Sushi is a company that owns, operates, and franchises conveyor belt sushi restaurants, principally in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Australia. History YO! ...

in 1997, and appeared as a "Dragon" on the first UK series of

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

. Woodroffe conceived and launched

after an early spell in television. The business established

conveyor belt sushi , also called rotation sushi, is a type of sushi restaurant common in Japan. In Australasia, it is also known as a sushi train. Plates serving the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant and moves past eve ...

bars featuring call buttons, robot drinks trolleys, Japanese TV, self heating plates and other such novelties. He currently speaks around the world at corporate and promotional events, and has appeared on stage at the Edinburgh Festival to discuss his YO! ventures including YO! Company. Woodroffe received an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

on 17 June 2006.

Early life

Woodroffe was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1952. His father was an

army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contextu ...

and reached the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

. His brother

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

was born in 1954. The family lived in a five-bedroom detached farmhouse in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Woodroffe left

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

towards the end of the 1960s, at the age of 16, with 2

O-level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

Business career

Woodroffe founded YO! Sushi in 1997 without the need for start-up capital. At the time that his first restaurant opened, despite its popularity, he was unable to obtain financing from banks. Instead, Woodroffe asked his largest supplier for extended terms to pay off his debt. The company had believed YO! Sushi would be a "safe bet" because it had the support of

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, and

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had mo ...

. In a 2008 interview, Woodroffe revealed that in fact those three companies had provided only very limited sponsorship for the business: some cheap televisions and a motorcycle. In September 2003, Woodroffe sold his controlling interest in YO! Sushi in a £10m deal, backed by private equity firm Primary Capital.Growing Business Success Stories – Simon Woodroffe
Woodroffe retained a 22% stake and continued working as a business entrepreneur, also taking time to present TV programmes. Primary Capital has since sold YO! Sushi. Woodroffe has sold his remaining stake, but is entitled to a royalty of 1% of gross sales in perpetuity. In 2008, Woodroffe diversified his business portfolio by launching the YOTEL brand of airport and city hotels.

Personal life

Woodroffe lives with his 18-year-old daughter Charlotte on a £1m

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. How ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodroffe, Simon British businesspeople Officers of the Order of the British Empire Living people People educated at Marlborough College 1952 births