Andrew Davis (businessman)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Davis is a British former businessman who founded the von Essen Group, which includes von Essen Hotels, PremiAir and the London Heliport.
charter business. It has been reported that Davis's first moneymaking business was selling jewellery and silver spoons door-to-door in the West Country.
, Congham Hall hotel in Norfolk
and New Park Manor in Hampshire
. In 2000, it bought Ston Easton Park
in Bath and Thornbury Castle
in Gloucestershire
for around £5m each. Bishopstrow House hotel in Wiltshire
was bought in 2001. In 2002 Davis leased Cliveden
in Buckinghamshire
, and the Royal Crescent
hotel in Bath, for £50m. In 2003, von Essen bought Lewtrenchard Manor
in Devon
, Dalhousie Castle
near Edinburgh
, and, for £16m, three Cotswolds
properties (Buckland Manor, Lower Slaughter and Washbourne Court) and The Elms in the Teme Valley. The icing on the cake was the acquisition of the Sharrow Bay Country House
hotel in Cumbria
which was the UK's first country house hotel when it opened in the 1950s. According to the Good Food Guide's editor Desmond Balmer, Cliveden, the infamous backdrop to the 1960s Profumo Scandal, "has not shone as a hotel for the past five years". Of Sharrow Bay, Balmer said "We have dropped it".
In 2007, after claims of Fawlty Towers-style bungling and poor service, seven of Davis's hotels were axed from The Good Hotel Guide, the leading arbiter of independent hotels in Britain and Ireland.
The holding company, Von Essen Hotels, went into administration in April 2011 after defaulting on debt interest repayments. The administrators, Ernst & Young
, appointed a new chairman to replace Davis.
The portfolio was broken up, and most hotels had buyers by September 2011, with Cliveden and the Royal Crescent going to London & Regional Properties
. The 33 hotels, freehold unless stated otherwise, were:
and PremiAir. Von Essen Aviation owned several helicopters and a private jet. In 2010, Davis was ranked on the Sunday Times Rich List at #244, with an estimated wealth of £292m. According to the Sunday Times of 26 April 2009, von Essen sponsors the Sunday Times Rich List. Since then the veracity of these estimates, and of Davis's public persona, has been questioned.
, who moved into Davis's five-storey Knightsbridge home in 1998. Prior to that, Davis appears to have married once, though he is now divorced. He is the father of a teenaged son.
Early life and career
Davis went to Reigate Grammar School and Caterham College in Surrey, near where his father, Brendon, an executive at a subsidiary of Redland Tiles, and his mother still live. During the early 1990s he was involved in small-scale property development,founding and operating a small helicopterHelicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
charter business. It has been reported that Davis's first moneymaking business was selling jewellery and silver spoons door-to-door in the West Country.
Von Essen Hotels
By 2000, von Essen had three properties: Mount Somerset hotel in TauntonTaunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, Congham Hall hotel in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
and New Park Manor in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. In 2000, it bought Ston Easton Park
Ston Easton Park
Ston Easton Park in Somerset was built in the 18th century for John Hippisley Coxe. The Hippisley family had been Lords of the Manor of Ston Easton since 1544, and in the 17th century had moved from the old manor house by the parish church to a new Jacobean house...
in Bath and Thornbury Castle
Thornbury Castle
Thornbury Castle is a castle in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, England. It was begun in 1511 as a home for Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. It is not a true castle , but rather an early example of a Tudor country house, with minimal defensive attributes. It is now a grade I listed...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
for around £5m each. Bishopstrow House hotel in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
was bought in 2001. In 2002 Davis leased Cliveden
Cliveden
Cliveden is an Italianate mansion and estate at Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. Set on banks above the River Thames, its grounds slope down to the river. The site has been home to an Earl, two Dukes, a Prince of Wales and the Viscounts Astor....
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, and the Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent
The Royal Crescent is a residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a grade I...
hotel in Bath, for £50m. In 2003, von Essen bought Lewtrenchard Manor
Lew Trenchard
Lew Trenchard is a parish and village in west Devon, England. Most of the larger village of Lewdown is in the parish. In Domesday Book a manor of Lew is recorded in this area and two rivers have the same name: see River Lew. Trenchard comes from the lords of the manor in the 13th century...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, Dalhousie Castle
Dalhousie Castle
Dalhousie Castle is a castle in Midlothian, Scotland. Dalhousie Castle is situated near the town of Bonnyrigg, 8 miles south of Edinburgh. The castle was the seat of the Earls of Dalhousie, the chieftains of Clan Ramsay.-History:...
near Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, and, for £16m, three Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
properties (Buckland Manor, Lower Slaughter and Washbourne Court) and The Elms in the Teme Valley. The icing on the cake was the acquisition of the Sharrow Bay Country House
Sharrow Bay Country House
Sharrow Bay Country House is a restaurant located in Ullswater / Pooley Bridge, Cumbria, England. , the restaurant holds one star in the Michelin Guide.-History:...
hotel in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
which was the UK's first country house hotel when it opened in the 1950s. According to the Good Food Guide's editor Desmond Balmer, Cliveden, the infamous backdrop to the 1960s Profumo Scandal, "has not shone as a hotel for the past five years". Of Sharrow Bay, Balmer said "We have dropped it".
In 2007, after claims of Fawlty Towers-style bungling and poor service, seven of Davis's hotels were axed from The Good Hotel Guide, the leading arbiter of independent hotels in Britain and Ireland.
The holding company, Von Essen Hotels, went into administration in April 2011 after defaulting on debt interest repayments. The administrators, Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
, appointed a new chairman to replace Davis.
The portfolio was broken up, and most hotels had buyers by September 2011, with Cliveden and the Royal Crescent going to London & Regional Properties
London & Regional Properties
London & Regional Properties is a property company based in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest privately held property companies in Europe....
. The 33 hotels, freehold unless stated otherwise, were:
- 16 The Royal Crescent, Bath (Classic Set) - guide price £22.5m
- Amberley CastleAmberley CastleAmberley Castle is in the village of Amberley, West Sussex . It is a Grade I listed building.It was erected as a 12th century manor house and fortified in 1377...
, West Sussex (Classic Set) - purchased by von Essen in August 2007 for £12m from from Martin and Joy Cummings, guide price £13.5m, acquired by Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011 - Bishopstrow House, Wiltshire (Country Set) - guide price £6m, acquired by LongleatLongleatLongleat is an English stately home, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set...
Enterprises Limited by 26 October 2011 - Buckland Manor, Gloucestershire (Classic Set) - guide price £6m, acquired by Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011
- Callow Hall, Derbyshire (Country Set) - guide price £2.25m
- Château de Bagnols, France (Continental Set) - guide price €12.5m
- Cliveden, Buckinghamshire (Classic Set) - leasehold guide price £35m
- Congham Hall, Norfolk (Country Set) - guide price £3m
- Dalhousie Castle, Edinburgh (Country Set) - guide price £7.5m
- FoweyFoweyFowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...
Hall, Cornwall (Family Set) - guide price £6.5m - Homewood Park, Bath (Country Set) - guide price £3.5m, acquired by Longleat Enterprises Limited by 7 November 2011
- Hotel Verta, London (Other)
- HunstreteHunstreteHunstrete is a small village on the River Chew in the Chew Valley, Bath and North East Somerset, England. It falls within the civil parish of Marksbury and is 8 miles from Bristol, and Bath, and 5 miles from Keynsham.- History :...
House, near Bath (Country Set) - Hunstrete House Limited, which operated the hotel under a licensing agreement with von Essen Investments, went into voluntary liquidation and closed in May 2011 (the hotel had been purchased by von Essen in April 2007 for almost £6m) - Lewtrenchard Manor, Devon (Country Set) - leasehold guide price £750,000 (in need of refurbishment)
- Llangoed HallLlangoed HallLlangoed Hall is a country house hotel, near the village of Llyswen, in Powys, Mid Wales. It is known for its decoration in Laura Ashley fabrics and styles, and was owned by the late Sir Bernard Ashley, the widower of the late designer.-History:...
, mid Wales (Other) - purchased by von Essen in 2010, placed into administration by 4 November 2011 - Lower SlaughterLower SlaughterLower Slaughter is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire, located in the Cotswold district, south west of the town of Stow-on-the-Wold....
Manor, Gloucestershire (Classic Set) - guide price £8m, acquired by Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011 - Moonfleet ManorFleet, DorsetFleet is a hamlet and parish in south Dorset, England, situated two miles west of Weymouth. The village is named for The Fleet, the nearby lagoon behind Chesil Beach. J. Meade Falkner's smuggling novel, Moonfleet is set in the village. On 24 November 1824 strong winds and a storm surge caused...
, Dorset (Family Set) - guide price £5m - New Park Manor, Hampshire (Country Set) - guide price £5.5m
- Seaham HallSeaham HallSeaham Hall is now a spa Hotel in County Durham, England. It was once owned by George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, although for much of his life he lived at Plas Machynlleth, his wife's home in Montgomeryshire....
, County Durham (Country Set) - guide price £12.5m - Sharrow Bay, Cumbria (Classic Set) - freehold/leasehold guide price £5m
- Ston Easton Park, Somerset (Classic Set) - guide price £5m
- The Dower House, Suffolk (Family Set)
- The Elms, Worcestershire (Family Set) - guide price £6m
- The Forbury HotelThe Forbury HotelThe Forbury Hotel is a grade II listed hotel in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated on the southern side of Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town centre.- History :...
, Reading (Other) - The Greenway, Gloucestershire (Country Set) - guide price £3.5m, acquired by The Eden Hotel Collection (owned by Sir Peter RigbyPeter RigbySir Peter Rigby is a British Entrepreneur, owner of IT company SCC and one of Britain's richest people.-Specialist Computer Centres:...
) by 3 November 2011 - The IckworthIckworth HouseIckworth House is a country house outside Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. It is a neoclassical structure topped by a giant rotunda in a park extending to 1800 acres. It is in the care of the National Trust, and, as part of the Ickworth House, Park & Garden property, is open to the...
, Suffolk (east wing only) (Family Set) - leasehold guide price £6m - The Mount Somerset, Somerset (Country Set) - guide price £3m
- The Samling, Cumbria (Classic Set) - guide price £6m, sold to private buyers by 25 October 2011
- Thorn IslandThorn IslandThorn Island is in the Community of Angle off the south west coast of Wales. The island is dominated by a fort that was built to defend Milford Haven from the French Navy. The Angle lifeboat received silver medals in 1878 rescuing the crew of the Loch Shiel on rocks near the island which carried...
Fort, Pembrokeshire (Other - Development opportunity) - guide price £750,000 - Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire (Classic Set) - guide price £7.5m
- Washbourne Court, Gloucestershire (Country Set) - guide price £5m, acquired by Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011
- Woolley Grange, Wiltshire (Family Set) - guide price £4m
- Ynyshir Hall, Wales (Classic Set) - guide price £1.5m
Other businesses
In 2007, Davis bought London HeliportLondon Heliport
London Heliport at Battersea, London is the capital's main and busiest heliport. The facility is located on the south bank of the River Thames, southwest of Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster, between Wandsworth Bridge and Battersea Railway Bridge.The nearest railway station is...
and PremiAir. Von Essen Aviation owned several helicopters and a private jet. In 2010, Davis was ranked on the Sunday Times Rich List at #244, with an estimated wealth of £292m. According to the Sunday Times of 26 April 2009, von Essen sponsors the Sunday Times Rich List. Since then the veracity of these estimates, and of Davis's public persona, has been questioned.
Personal life
Davis's male companion is Andrew OnraetAndrew Onraet
Andrew Onraet is a British architect and is founder and principal of AEON Architects.He first studied at the Kent Institute of Art and Design and later at the Royal College of Art, graduating with an MA in 1994. In between the two, he worked in Berlin and was involved in the unification projects of...
, who moved into Davis's five-storey Knightsbridge home in 1998. Prior to that, Davis appears to have married once, though he is now divorced. He is the father of a teenaged son.