Jump to content

Harry Hyams

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 146.198.135.89 (talk) at 10:07, 14 August 2017 (Added "now" to clarify that whilst it is standard practice today, it was not until he introduced it.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Harry John Hyams (2 January 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a British millionaire who initially made his money as a speculative property (real estate) developer. He was best known as the developer of the Centre Point office building in London. He was the long-term owner non-resident of Ramsbury Manor, near Marlborough, Wiltshire.

Ramsbury Manor
Centre Point, London

Early life

Hyams was born in Hendon, Middlesex. His father was an importer and after private schooling he joined an advertising agency, then joined an estate agency and switched to property development.[1]

Career

Hyams made much of his fortune developing office space in London at a time in the 1960s and 1970s when rents there were rising significantly. He preferred to find single, blue-chip tenants for his properties, having them fully repair and insure the buildings they occupied, as is now common with commercial property in the UK. This approach enabled Hyams to manage a valuable and sizable property business with a staff of just six. It was also used by Hyams as justification for keeping his Centre Point development empty for years after completion – he claimed he could find no tenant willing to lease all 202,000 sq ft (18,800 m2) of space.[2]

Private life

In 1954 he married his wife Kay in Chelsea.[3] She died 1 February 2011, aged 91.[4] On 19 December 2015, Hyams died at the age of 87.[5]

In 1965 Hyams bought Ramsbury Manor, Wiltshire, and surrounding land for £650,000 – said at the time to be the highest price paid for a private house in England.[1] In 2008, a raid at Ramsbury Manor by the Johnson Gang was described as the biggest ever private burglary in England.[6] In his will, Hyams gave the house and his collections of fine art[7] and cars to the nation via his Capricorn Foundation, in a bequest reported to be worth £450m.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Brewerton, David (20 December 2015). "Harry Hyams obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ "Harry's Sore Point". Time.com. 24 July 1972. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  3. ^ Tanz, Meryl. "HYAMS Kathleen Therese (KAY): Memorial". Nwnannouncements.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Kathleen Hyams obituary". Gazetteandherald.co.uk. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  5. ^ Notice of death of Harry Hyams, telegraph.co.uk; accessed 20 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Five jailed for biggest burglary". 6 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  7. ^ Jones, Jonathan (14 December 2016). "Forget the modernists – Turner and Stubbs are Britain's true radicals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ Sawer, Patrick; Limbrick, Sarah (13 December 2016). "Centrepoint developer Harry Hyams leaves huge art collection to the nation in £487m will". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Harry_Hyams&oldid=795455856"