David Garrard (property developer)
David Garrard (born in 1939) is a retired British property developer. Knighted in 2003 for his charity work, he founded Minerva PLC, a FTSE 250 property investment and development company and served as its chairman for many years. The Sunday Times Rich List 2005 listed Garrard jointly as the 451st richest person in the UK, estimating his wealth at £102 million.
Political involvement
Garrard has donated money to both the Conservative and the Labour Party and was a prominent attendee at a Conservative Friends of Israel meeting addressed by former leader Ian Duncan Smith on the first day of Chanukkah] in 2001.[1] The Conservatives erected a plaque in his honour after he paid £70,000 to install a call centre at Conservative Central Office while William Hague was leader, and he subsequently donated £200,000 to the Labour Party. He received knighthood for his charity work in 2003, and was nominated for a Peerage in 2005 after making an undeclared loan of £2.3m to help fund Labour's 2005 election campaign. He asked for his name to be withdrawn after concerns were raised by the House of Lords Appointments Commission[2] and when he was asked by a journalist about the loan, which did not have to be publicly disclosed to the Electoral Commission.
Allders takeover
Garrard was involved in the takeover of the Allders department store, but his attempts to restructure the company failed and it collapsed,[3] leaving its "pension fund in tatters" according to The Sunday Times. [4]Garrard's own business interests allegedly benefited from the collapse.[5]
References
- ^ [http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=21497&speeches=1 Speech by Ian Duncan Smith, December 10, 2001
- ^ Labour donor removes his name from peers list, The Times, March 16, 2006
- ^ The Grizzly Bear, how he helped out Tony, The Evening Standard, Dec 30 2005
- ^ Watchdog warns Blair off ennobling Labour donors, The Sunday Times, March 5, 2006
- ^ Minerva profits from Allders' losses, The Times, April 23, 2005
 | This British biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |