Javad Marandi
Javad Marandi | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | January 1968 (age 53) Tehran, Iran |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Businessman and property developer |
Spouse(s) | Narmina Alizadeh |
Children | 3 |
Javad Marandi OBE (born February 1968) is a British businessman and property developer, with investments in commercial and residential real estate.
Early life[]
He was born in February 1968,[1] in Tehran, Iran.[citation needed] He moved to Britain in 1979, and studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering.[2] He then qualified as a UK chartered accountant, at Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers).[3] In the 1990s, he worked as a business development manager for the Coca-Cola Company in Central Asia, and the area manager for emerging markets at Phillip Morris international, before starting his own businesses.[2]
Investments[]
Property[]
Marandi has invested in numerous luxury establishments within the hospitality sector, including hotels such as Soho Farmhouse, Soho House group's country hotel and club in Oxfordshire, England, Chais Monnet, a 92-room luxury hotel, restaurant and retail development in Cognac, France, Sofitel Brussels, and CenterParc in Moselle, France.[2][4] He has also invested in restaurants such as Shirvan, Michelin starred-chef Akrame Benallal's high-end restaurant on Place d'Alma, in central Paris.[5]
Marandi is both an investor and developer in the UK property market.[2]
Retail[]
In 2014, Marandi took a majority stake in Wed2B,[6] a UK mid-market wedding apparel retailer, focused on regional UK towns and cities.[7] Since his involvement in the business, the company has expanded from three to over 40 stores.[8] Wed2B ranked in the FT1000 in both 2019 and 2020, and placed in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 in both 2017 and 2018”[9][10] It ranks Britain's fastest-growing privately held companies by sales growth over the preceding 3 years.[11]
In March 2020, the Marandi family acquired 100% of the Conran Shop, the luxury interior design and furniture retailer founded by Sir Terence Conran in 1973[12]
Logistics[]
Marandi holds a controlling stake in Roth Gerueste, a Swiss market scaffolding and hi-tech building materials manufacturer.[13]
Philanthropy[]
The Marandi Foundation supports children's health and education; and cultural history and art.[14] Marandi is also Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Watercolour World, a charity working to provide online public access to thousands of documentary watercolours from all over the world.[15] The goal of the charity is to collate a unique visual history of the world.[16] The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are joint patrons of the Watercolour World, which is chaired by Fred Hohler.[17] In March 2021, Marandi was appointed co-chair to the Growth Board of homelessness charity Centrepoint.[18]
Personal life[]
Marandi owns a home in Eaton Square in London's Belgravia worth about £22.5 million, and is one of Azerbaijan's richest men. He has "two private jets and a passion for vintage wine".[19]
He is a donor to the Conservative Party (UK).[20][21] During the 2019 United Kingdom general election campaign, he donated £250,000 to the party.[22]
His wife Narmina is the daughter of Ali Alizadeh, an oncologist in Baku, Azerbaijan.[3] Javad and Narmina are investors in Anya Hindmarch and Emilia Wickstead, the London-based fashion houses.[23] Narmina is a patron and board member of the BFC Fashion Trust and co-head of the Cultural and Social Committee of the Serpentine Galleries.[24][25][26]
Marandi was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to business and philanthropy.[27]
External links[]
References[]
- ^ "KSJ THEATRE INVESTMENTS LIMITED – Officers (free information from Companies House)". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Ashton, James (15 January 2017). "Javad Marandi: from Iranian immigrant to Soho House investor". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Javad Marandi: British Investment Guru Reveals His Venture Secrets |". Lux-mag.com. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ "Communiqué : Début du chantier d'un nouvel hôtel de luxe à Cognac". Tendance Hotellerie. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ "Akrame Benallal launches Shirvan Café Métisse in Paris". Luxury Lifestyle Magazine. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Hipwell, Deirdre. "A wedding dress with all the frills but less expense". The Times. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
- ^ Kilgannon, Laurence. "Hull opening for expanding Wed2B". Insider Media. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ "Store finder". WED2B. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Kelly, Maxine (2 March 2020). "FT 1000: the fourth annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies". www.ft.com. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ Baker, Hannah (12 December 2018). "The Bristol wedding shop that sells luxury dresses for under £600". Bristol Post. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ^ "WED2B". Fast Track 100. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Wong, Henry (24 March 2020). "The "loss-making" Conran Shop has been sold to new owners". Design Week. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ Rigby, Rhymer. "Roth Gerüste: Advanced Scaffolding Secrets Revealed". ScaffMag. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ "The Marandi Foundation". Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "The Watercolour World- The Project". The Watercolour World. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ Harris, Miriam. "Thousands of Historical Watercolours to be Available Online in a Digital Archive". Digital Arts. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Low, Valentine. "Former diplomat Fred Hohler will show 30,000 watercolours as a record of how the world once looked". The Times. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Driscoll, Margarette (20 March 2021). "'My friend Prince William is no racist'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ Jim Armitage (22 December 2013). "The Duke of Westminster, the property tycoon and the missing millions". The Independent. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ David Pegg, Helena Bengtsson and Holly Watt, "Revealed: the tycoons and world leaders who built secret UK property empires", The Guardian, 5 April 2016
- ^ Rajeev Syal, "Conservatives raise 10 times more than Labour in late donations", The Guardian, 5 May 2015
- ^ "View donation". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Conti, Samantha (28 March 2019). "Marandi Family Buys Stake in Anya Hindmarch From Mayhoola". WWD. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "British Fashion Trust". British Fashion Council. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ "BFC FASHION TRUST ANNOUNCES ITS 2017 GRANT RECIPIENTS" (PDF). British Fashion Council. 24 May 2017.
- ^ "Thank You". Serpentine Galleries. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N13.
- 1968 births
- British businesspeople
- Living people
- People from Tehran
- Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Conservative Party (UK) donors