A £400m property empire, three jets and a yacht... but my secret shame is I can't read.

I am sitting in the sumptuous West End office of businessman Andreas Panayiotou as he scans the front page of the Evening Standard and attempts to read it out loud. He begins normally, but by the second sentence he has become hesitant, using his forefinger to guide him. He delivers each word slowly and deliberately. In the third paragraph, he comes to a halt.

"What's that word?" he asks, pointing to "receipts". In the next sentence he is stymied again, this time by "exposé". Mr Panayiotou is a 45-year-old in his prime with every reason to be super-confident, but now his hands start writhing and he begins to sweat in his £3,000 Tom Ford suit.

The self-made British mogul, conservatively said to be worth £400million and ranked 200th on the Rich List, is about to describe his "secret shame" for the first time - he has never learned to read. He is prepared to talk about his "darkest secret" to help expose the scandal of illiteracy in London. "I am doing it because the Evening Standard's exposé has moved and shocked me. I am amazed to see the problem in our schools is still so bad. I'd hate any kid to go through what I have," he said. More...

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