And he has the endless list of extra-curricular activities that top businessmen inevitably accrue. There is the luxury London apartment, the holiday home in Portugal and the 90ft yacht, often moored in the south of FranceHe has the knighthood, bestowed in 1996 for services to electrical retailing. He earned pounds 809,000 at Dixons last year and has shares worth pounds 30m. He was a millionaire at the age of 31 following the group's stock market flotation in 1962 and has all the trappings of success. "Our mentality is that of the market leader."That would also rule out the US, where Silo over-expanded and plunged from profit to loss. Dixons was forced to offload it with huge financial write-offs.

"This is another reason why management continuity is important," warns Sir Stanley, giving himself another reason not to retire.With Dixons shares the most highly rated in the sector at present and profits hitting pounds 237m on sales of pounds 3.2bn last year, perhaps it is the desire to make Dixons an international power that drives Sir Stanley on.It can't be money. That rules out France where rival Kingfisher has stolen a march by buying Darty and But "We are natural number ones," he says. There is massive scope for expansion and we have been keen to exploit a single market if not a single currency."Will there be other deals? "I think so We are in that mode now. You'd expect to see a few things happen but we're still a bit fussy." He declines to name pos-sible markets but the focus is western Europe and particularly markets it can dominate. On the home front, Dixons stands on threshold of a new technological era with digital technology poised to break through to the mass market. Abroad, Dixons is in the early stages of its first foray overseas since the disastrous acquisition of the US electrical chain Silo in the 1980s.The Elkjop deal takes Dixons into Norway, Sweden and Denmark "We've been looking at Europe for a long time.

"I've always thought he would be carried out in a box," one says.In any case, Sir Stanley argues, there is no need for him to attempt to quit just because something might go wrong with the so-called Internet bubble "Freeserve is not my landmark," he cautions "Dixons is."It is a landmark he guards jealously He is right that the business is at a crucial stage. As one analyst says: "Every year I go to the Dixons shareholder meeting and look for signs of a slowdown. But he is always incredibly sharp and gives very quick responses to questions. He is still very impressive." Colleagues say he will never retire. He moves around his office relatively slowly but there is nothing wrong with his mind.

As long as I'm blessed with good health and still enjoying it, it should not be an issue."He certainly looks well. A shortish man with an expanding midriff he has a healthy thatch of hair for a man his age. I'm a little bit against this ageism thing that suggests that at 68 I'm less effective. We've got a lot of young people in the business and sometimes it is good to have a bit of experience at the top And someone like me could never be a non-executive chairman I've never ever indicated when I will retire It's not a pressing issue. Floating it then became inevitable because it had become so big it could have lop- sided Dixons."In share price terms it still could.

Dixons' 80 per cent stake in Freeserve means that a collapse in the Internet bubble would trigger a collapse in Dixons shares, which have trebled since Freeserve's launch. Sir Stanley says he is not interested in this and Freeserve cannot bring Dixons down "because it is ring-fenced".Even so, it could be a canny move to step down now with the company riding so high He bridles at the very thought of retirement "I'm running on all cylinders. The moment I retire will be when I no longer feel I can operate that way At my age, that clearly is in the not too distant future. But it is not something for which we have set a deadline."Indeed, Sir Stanley appears ready to stay on for several years as executive chairman "I'm a pretty good hand on the helm.