He thinks his frustration stems from his own childhood experience of deprivation, as Russia moved away from the Soviet system in the 80s. Although he was born to privileged parents (his mother was a government economist, and his father was an Aeroflot pilot) he grew up in a standard Soviet apartment block, far from the city centre. "I understand what an empty refrigerator looks like. I lived in Russia in 1989, where queues for chicken were four hours," he says. "No one who is not mad would want their kids to live in the Soviet Union."
When he was searching for the right business to create, he visited dozens of shops. He thought about starting a fast-turnover, cheap, high-fashion chain, but dismissed it. "I went to Primark, and thought: 'When I become poor again, I will start to work for lower middle classes the way I did in Russia.'
"If I spend all my money, or lose it, I will work for lower middle classes, because it's the biggest class. If you want to be rich, work for the poorest people. Twelve years I worked for middle and lower middle class in Russia. I had 5,000 shops – I know how it works. But life is not only the money.
