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My Favourite Things – Theo Paphitis

Theo Paphitis, well known TV Dragon, retail entrepreneur and owner of Boux Avenue, Robert Dyas, Ryman and London Graphic Centre, lists his six favourite items of stationery, tech and office equipment

Theo Paphitis
Theo Paphitis

1 My iPhone
This is one of the three things I rely on for everything on a day-to-day basis. Running numerous businesses in various sectors – lingerie, homeware, stationery and experiences with Red Letter Days, which I co-own with Peter Jones – I need to be contactable 24/7. Like many people I also use my phone for taking photos, whether I’m racing cars, somewhere beautiful or I just want to capture the moment. The quality of the imagery is fantastic. No doubt I will pick up the latest iPhone when it arrives and the quality will be even better.

2 My Apple Watch
I love all watches, having started out in retail at Watches of Switzerland, but the Apple Watch is a firm favourite and something that makes my life a whole lot easier. This has been a worthy addition to my tech armoury in the last couple of years and I was an early adopter. Again, you cannot be everywhere at once and it allows me to have immediate visibility of anything urgent that perhaps might not be able to wait. The watch also looks good and I can change the straps so it is versatile in style too. It doesn’t replace the phone but complements it well and certainly makes my life easier, helping me to keep on top of urgent messages and news alerts as and when they happen.

3 My iPad Pro
Clearly Apple is a big part of the Paphitis world, and with the phone, watch and iPad I have all bases covered. They are my staple three pieces of tech. My car is often viewed as an extension of my office and having a driver enables me to work in the car and make the most of all the time I have…usually working dawn ’til dusk on whatever needs my attention on any day. I use the iPad Pro to read documents and keep up to date on current affairs that I like to have an opinion on, usually via social media. A recent news article said ‘it’s almost too good’ as a tablet, but I disagree…you can never be too good!

4 Power bank
Power banks have been hugely successful at Ryman, and a favourite is a relatively new one, the iWALK Extreme TRIO 5000, with integrated cables for charging all smartphones and tablets. It can charge three devices at the same time and has a backlit LCD display showing a battery meter. When travelling around the UK or abroad, a power bank can be a lifeline for staying in touch. The power bank has become the antidote to tech’s limited battery life. This one is lightweight, only 13mm thick, has a great 5 stars rating on our site, and looks pretty good too.

5 Bose QC35 headphones
Now, a fantastic pair of headphones can transform your travel experience, and when I am flying off somewhere, for business or pleasure, I will always make sure these headphones are within easy reach, so that I can watch whatever box sets I am enjoying at the time, such as Game of Thrones or House of Cards. The fantastic quality of these Bose headphones means that you can 100% concentrate on what you’re watching or on the music you’re listening to. They are also some of the most comfortable headphones that I’ve had, because they are so lightweight. Being wireless they are also very flexible. They have 20 hours battery life per charge, 40 in wired mode. This helps any delay when travelling go by more quickly – you’re entertained and the quality makes it a pleasure. They’re not cheap as headphones go, but for me they’re worth every penny.

6 Canary
Travelling around the UK and abroad I want to have peace of mind that my home and family are happy and safe, so the Canary, an intelligent home security camera, was a no brainer for me. It looks more like a speaker than a camera, so is pretty easy on the eye. It is also a clever user of time, as although it is always on, it only records things that may be of interest. You then receive a live-time clip to your phone that you can view immediately if you wish to. If, worst case, there is an intruder, you can activate an alarm or call the police. It is also very intuitive and knows when you are in the house, due to GPS, so won’t send you a clip of yourself. They’ve been so good, we now stock them in Robert Dyas and Ryman too. The cost is £159, which for peace of mind, doesn’t seem much at all!

Follow Theo Paphitis on twitter @theopaphitis
www.Ryman.co.uk
www.RobertDyas.co.uk

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