Lawrence Tomlinson

File:Dr Lawrence Tomlinson.jpg

Dr Lawrence Tomlinson

Dr Lawrence Neil Tomlinson is one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs and innovative engineers. He is the founder and owner of LNT Care Developments, the UK's leading constructor and developer of award winning energy efficient carehomes and an experienced investor in care home operators and technology businesses. Dr Tomlinson is also the owner and chairman of Ginetta, an english motorsports manufacturer and race series organiser.

Tomlinson's contribution to engineering has been recognised by three Honorary Doctorates from the University of Huddersfield, the University of Bradford and Leeds Metropolitan University.

Early life

Tomlinson grew up in Batley, where he attended grammar school before going on to study engineering at Huddersfield College at age 15. Early on in his studies, engineering company, Wellman Bibby, spotted his skills and sponsored his engineering degree at Bradford University. He was head hunted by Holset Engineering for their Graduate Trainee Programme in 1987.

When he was in his teens his parents started a care home. Tomlinson was involved from the start, writing software on an Amstrad 8256 to aid them with the management of the care home. After completing his studies, and whilst still in training at Holset Engineering, Tomlinson bought the care home from his parents in 1988. This was the start of his investments in the Care Sector, an industry to which Dr Tomlinson has committed his life's work.

Career

Tomlinson initially started with a single care home in 1988, which has since grown into the LNT Care Developments Group and employs over 1,000 people across four core businesses. He has also driven the successes of:-

• Ginetta, an automobile manufacturer.
• LNT Software, a developer of care home management systems.
• LNT Solutions, a developer of climate protection systems for the aerospace and rail industries.

Tomlinson was the Institute of Directors’ Overall Director of the Year 2013 and has advised Government on business issues over the last 20 years including a period as the Serial Entrepreneur in Residence in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in 2013–14.

Biography

Tomlinson started in business importing ski boats and classic cars into the UK before moving into the Care Sector. Borrowing £526k from his local bank in 1988, he bought out his parents care home company. Subsequently Dr Tomlinson spotted a gap in the market for bespoke purpose built care homes, he went on to design, build and operate new facilities and establishing LNT Construction in 1991. LNT Construction and LNT Care Developments has grown to build 20–25% of all the new elderly residential care homes across the country. LNT Care Developments have operated under a vertically integrated model since 2008, when Tomlinson began purchasing LNT's main subcontractors and began the scale up of the business to its current market leading position.

Outside of care developments, he launched further businesses including LNT Software, which develops and sells bespoke software for the care home industry. LNT Software's care home management programme, CoolCare is used now to help the management of almost 10% of the UK Care Bedrooms in operation.

A further addition to the LNT Group was LNT Solutions, a specialist chemical company. LNT Solutions supplies Network Rail with a chemical that stops trains slipping on the leaves, de-ices the third rail and supplies runway and aeroplane wing de-icer to airports across North America and Northern Europe.

In 2005 Tomlinson acquired Ginetta, which has been continuously building race cars since 1958. Since its purchase by LNT, Ginetta has grown to become one of the most significant players on the global motorsport scene. Tomlinson has himself raced at Le Mans winning the GT2 class at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 2006.

In 2007 Tomlinson sold Orchard Care Homes (originally Tricare) for £175m. and subsequently set up Ideal Carehomes. In 2015, social housing provider Anchor bought 24 care homes from Ideal Carehomes in a deal worth in excess of £100m. Ideal Carehomes retained 15 care homes across the Midlands, North West and Yorkshire. In June 2017, Ideal Carehomes moved to its new Headquarters in the Midlands to bring the team closer to the location of the homes and has since expanded its portfolio to 16 homes after opening Mountview in Leicester in November 2017. In the care home operator sector Tomlinson also founded (with other investors) Halycon Care Homes, which sold in 2022.

Whilst growing his interests in Carehome operators Dr Tomlinson expanded his interests in the construction sector. Over a 30 year period Dr Tomlinson has guided and invested in LNT Care Developments Group to drive it to its current position as number 1 in the market today. LNT has built over £3.2bn of Care homes delivering over 12,500 care home beds to the sector. He is a passionate advocate for building “Great Places to Live” and making a real difference to the lives of the residents who live in LNT built homes, the communities they serve and to the people who work for the LNT Group.

As the founder, owner and now Non Executive Director, Lawrence is now enjoying a new role providing strategic and innovation input into LNT homes and how they are designed and built. Lawrence is a passionate supporter of the agenda to move to net zero and has been a major force behind LNT Care Homes progress to becoming Carbon Zero operational users of energy from 2021 onwards.

Dr Tomlinson is also an Ambassador and mentor to various programmes at the Said Business School at Oxford University.

Entrepreneur In Residence

In April 2013, Lawrence Tomlinson became Serial Entrepreneur in Residence at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Tomlinson was selected from over 100 candidates.

Tomlinson was awarded a £10,000 honorarium and expenses in return for one day a week in the Department. Tomlinson ran a competition for his £10,000 honorarium in return for the best idea for growth. The winner was announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November 2013.

Throughout the year, Tomlinson worked across Government departments providing advice and feedback to civil servants, Ministers and MPs on policy ideas including; planning, red-tape and access to finance.

Tomlinson’s time in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will largely be remembered for his work on the Tomlinson Report.

Motor racing

A Ginetta G50 racing at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, the car for which Tomlinson drew the base specifications

An enthusiastic race car driver, Tomlinson and his two co-drivers steered the Team LNT Panoz Esperante to first place in the GT2 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2006. In 2009 he raced the in-house developed Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S, which was also raced in 2010 by Nigel Mansell.

In 2005, Tomlinson bought Ginetta Cars from the group of enthusiasts who had brought it out of administration. Tomlinson designed the specification for the Ginetta G50 car which was built within six months, and has now raced in GT championships across the world, and has its own Ginetta GT Supercup series in the UK. After Ginetta won the Small Business of the Year award from the Motorsport Industry Association in 2008, and the Ginetta G50 crowned Autosport's Car of the Year, in 2009 Tomlinson was nominated by the MIA for the Outstanding Contribution to Motorsport award.

Today, the LNT Group and Ginetta are housed in a purpose built site in Garforth, Leeds. Opened by Damon Hill OBE in December 2007, it houses both the group headquarters and the Ginetta car factory.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2004	Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport	Nigel Greensall Gareth Evans	TVR Tuscan T400R	GT	291	22nd	9th
2006	Team LNT	Tom Kimber-Smith Richard Dean	Panoz Esperante GT-LM	GT2	321	15th	1st
2007	Team LNT	Richard Dean Rob Bell	Panoz Esperante GT-LM	GT2	308	23rd	5th
2009	Team LNT	Richard Dean Nigel Moore	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S	LMP1	178	DNF	DNF

24 Hours of Silverstone results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Car No.	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2008	Team LNT	Richard Dean Nigel Moore	Ginetta G50	27	2	0	DNF	DNF
2010	Team LNT	Stewart Linn Mike Simpson Nigel Moore	Ginetta G40	83	4	521	12th	1st
2011	Rollcentre Racing	Martin Short Mike Simpson Colin Turkington Matt Nicoll-Jones	Ginetta G55	30	1	80	DNF	DNF
2015	Team LNT	Chris Hoy Charlie Robertson Mike Simpson Gaetan Paletou	Ginetta Juno LMP3	12	1	418	13th	2nd

External links

• LNT Group