His mother took Singh and his brother alternately with her on buying trips to the Far East where Singh was blooded in

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His mother took Singh and his brother alternately with her on buying trips to the Far East, where Singh was blooded in business, cutting buying deals from the age of 14 (under strict supervision). He was sent to a prep school called Ramillies Hall, which had a school day that lasted until 6pm - useful, because it meant his mother did not have to arrange childcare. When I tackled him about it, however, he maintained there was "no link between my parents' business and Miss Attitude. The privilege I had, when I started the business, was that I didn't have to worry about a roof over my head or getting money to live And I had experience from working in the business. I suspected Singh didn't want to discuss his parents because he didn't want to admit the connection - thereby diminishing not only his achievement but what is, PR-wise, an excellent story. But there's no interlink between my father's company and mine.

I don't even buy from Sabco any more, because everyone else does and I have to be different."Another suspicion is that Singh's mother and father might have given him money to set up his first shops - not that there would be anything wrong with that. When I asked why his office was in the Sabco building Singh's answer was that he had bought it. I also took a few risks in the knowledge that if anything went wrong I could take a degree and work for my father. Singh told me reluctantly that his parents emigrated from India to England in the early Seventies. When asked why they left India, he said, "Don't know," and changed the subject. Did he really not know, or did he not want to say? "I really don't know." He conceded his parents were comfortable but not rich when they came to Manchester, where they set up "various businesses" and eventually Sabco, in 1980.Singh's office is actually in the Sabco building in Manchester, and given the similarity between the companies, one obviously wonders if they are interlinked. He won't talk about their history, even refusing to give their names - "This is nothing to do with them" - but I was intrigued to notice a picture of his father meeting a young-looking Margaret Thatcher on the wall of his office.

I knew enough business to know that sales minus costs equals profit. When I opened the third shop I didn't tell them for days, I was too scared."According to Singh, his parents are very traditional and family-orientated. We made more money on the first day than I'd predicted we'd make in the first month. On Sunday I had to run around getting more stock."But his parents were less than happy about the activities of their teenage entrepreneur. His father was particularly concerned when Singh signed the deal for a second shop before the first was off the ground "With the first shop they were breathing down my neck With the second my father said, `That's it Two's enough.