At John Caudwell’s farewell party last week five hundred staff enjoyed a little something extra when they received their share of a £3.5million giveaway.

After selling his mobile phone empire for £1.46 billion this year, Caudwell threw an end-of-year bash featuring a private performance by pop stars Will Young and James Fox.

Five hundred of his most loyal workers were stunned when Causwell sent a team of young women into the crowd to dispatch cheques to each of them as part of his "golden farewell".

Each cheque was worth £1000 for every year of service, with one lucky employee receiving a massive £17000.  

In a speech, he is quoted as saying: "I face the final curtain with some sadness. I really wanted to recognise and reward my loyal employees by showing you a token of my appreciation."

The Caudwell Group, which employed a total of 8,500 people, was sold for £1.46billion to private equity firms Doughty Hanson and Providence Equity Partners in August.

As part of the move, Doughty Hanson has retained the Crewe-based 20:20 Logistics Distribution Group, which will be renamed the 20-20 Mobile Group.

Meanwhile, Providence has acquired the Phones4U arm, which boasts a network of 325 stores across the UK.

According to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, Caudwell is Britain’s 29th wealthiest person.