Bill Cullen has lost his Renault franchise - but he'll still be working in the motor business, and living out his dreams, reports Hugh Oram
Bill Cullen (65) - renowned as Ireland's "Mr Renault" - is set to make untold millions when his distribution franchise for Renault cars in Ireland is taken over at the end of next year by Renault in France. Rumours of the move have been doing the rounds for several months, but had been denied by Cullen's company, Glencullen.
However, he admits now that the ending of his distribution franchise has been on the cards for some time, so he's philosophical about it being time to move on.
The deal that Renault is doing is similar to what VW and Mazda have already done, in taking over direct control over distribution in Ireland.
After the takeover goes through, Cullen plans to concentrate his motor trade interests on his own Renault dealership.
His CityGate Motor Group is the largest Renault retailer in the country, with six outlets, three of them in Dublin.
He'll also be able to add the pay off from Renault to his existing fortune, which has been built up during his 50 years in the motor trade, as well as from his extensive property interests.
Altogether, according to the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List, Cullen is worth €120 million. Most of that comes from his property investments.
The story of Cullen's upbringing is well known. He was one of 14 children of William Cullen and Mary Darcy and was brought up in one room in a tenement in Summerhill, in Dublin's north inner city. He went to school in Gardiner Street, where he says he was best at the 3Rs. He says that he had the answers as quickly as the questions were being chalked up on the blackboard.
Cullen started selling from street stalls at the age of four, everything from fruit to paper flowers and copies of the Evening Herald.
His mother and his grandmother, Molly Darcy, were great friends of noted Dublin street trader Hector Grey, and Bill Cullen himself has acknowledged how much he learned from Grey, how to make the best sales pitch and how to turn a profit on every item sold. As a young man, he wasn't just learning how to buy and sell. He was a neat dancer and a skilled footballer, playing at one stage for Shelbourne.
He turned down a trial for Manchester United because the money wasn't good enough.
Cullen's first proper job came when he was 14, and taken on as a messenger boy by the old Walden Motor Company, which sold Ford cars. At Waldens, he got three pay rises in 14 months and according to his Golden Apples biography, he ended up as director general of the company. Eventually, Cullen went on to set up the Fairline Motor Company, which became the biggest Ford dealer in Ireland.
His big break came in 1986 when he paid Waterford Crystal the princely sum of IR£1 for the Renault franchise for Ireland, and took on massive debts.
Originally, the Renault franchise had been owned by Con Smith of the Smith Group, who was killed in the 1972 Staines air crash near Heathrow.
Today, the most recent figures (2005) for Glencullen show a turnover of over €250 million. After the takeover by Renault at the end of 2008, no job losses are expected at the Santry based company, which employs 70 people; they've been assured about job continuity. Two senior executives from Renault are due to join the company in September to smooth the transition.
Besides his business commitments, Bill Cullen has long been involved in charitable work through the Irish Youth Foundation and has raised well over €30 million for charity over the past 20 years.
He has also written extensively of his experiences and business career, starting with his It's a long way from Penny Apples title. He subsequently wrote his Streetwise book to impart some of his business experiences.
At one stage, he claimed the Guinness World Record for the biggest-ever book signing, which took place at Easons in O'Connell Street, Dublin, for Golden Apples.
His partner for the past 28 years has been Jackie Lavin ( 49) from Co Kerry.
Educated by the nuns in Cahirciveen, she is a former Miss Ireland who is now a successful business woman in her own right.
She started her first fashion shop in Stillorgan and now owns a chic boutique in Dublin, while herself and Bill Cullen, who live in a mansion in Co Kildare, bought the Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney in 1990.
Since then, the hotel has been extensively refurbished and extended; the Molly Darcy pub there is named in honour of Cullen's grandmother.
Bill Cullen and Jackie Lavin have also been stalwarts of the social scene for many years. When he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs, in October, 2003, Cullen chose New York, New York by Frank Sinatra as his favourite record, Glimpses by Brendan Kennelly as his favourite book, while he picked an accordion as his luxury.
A generous and sociable man, Cullen puts his success down to sheer hard work and to the support of a close knit family.
While he will continue his motor trade interests through his Renault dealership, Cullen has one more unfulfilled ambition.
He wants to be the first Irishman in space, having paid €250,000 for a ticket on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic programme. This is designed to propel people 100km into space - provided they have enough money. These sub-orbital space flights are due to start in 2009, and two people who want to venture into space alongside Bill Cullen are Paris Hilton, the socialite and Stephen Hawking, the astrophysicist.