John Griffin, the cockney Irish minicab millionaire, is no big fan of Carlyle, the US private equity giant that paid £300 million to take over his Addison Lee business in 2013.

“I’m beginning to realise we were never going to be friends,” he said of the financial high fliers. He was trying to be careful with his words because his son Liam still works in the company and will be due a payday if Carlyle’s planned flip of Addison Lee works out. Griffin isn’t really known for curbing his language, however. He went on to declare Carlyle to be “the worst company I’ve ever come across”, saying it has “no humanity” and “no respect”.

“They didn’t give a shit” about his years of experience at Addison Lee, he went on, expressing incredulity about the £600 million valuation Carlyle has apparently placed on Addison Lee Mk II: “It completely loses me.”

The comments may or may not be of interest to the finance professionals of Ireland, who will be aware that Carlyle is circling, trying to spend almost €300 million on Irish investments alongside its Dublin partner, Cardinal Capital. Perhaps it will be different this time.