Duncan Bannatyne
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Duncan Bannatyne, OBE D.Sc.(born February 2, 1949) is a Scottish entrepreneur and businessman. He is most famous for his appearance as a business angel or Dragon on the BBC programme Dragons' Den.
Raised in the town of Clydebank in relative poverty, Bannatyne joined the Royal Navy where he served several years before receiving a dishonorable discharge for almost throwing a senior officer off of a vessel[1].
After spending his twenties moving from one job to another, Bannatyne lived for a few years on the island of Jersey where he met his first wife. With a difficult business climate for outsiders, at age 30 Bannatyne and his wife moved to Stockton-on-Tees in northern England. Bannatyne's business career began almost immediately with an ice cream van purchased for £450. He soon expanded by buying more vans and eventually sold the business for £28,000, founding a nursing home business instead. He has since expanded into health clubs, with the popular Bannatyne's chain to his name, and also to bars, casinos and property.
His current wealth is estimated at £168 million, as indicated in 2006 by the Sunday Times Rich List.
Bannatyne received his OBE partly in recognition for his charity work in Romania where he has funded several projects, notably Casa Bannatyne in Târgu-Mureş, a hospice for orphans with HIV and AIDS. He also works with charity projects in Malawi through Scottish International Relief.
He has six children (four by his first wife, Gail, and two by his new wife, Joanne McCue). He married her on 11th November 2006 at St Mary's Church in Norton. Celebrities at the ceremony included Anna Ryder Richardson from Changing Rooms, actress Cherie Lunghi, Dragons' Den presenter Evan Davis and fellow Dragons Theo Paphitis, Richard Farleigh and Simon Woodroffe. He lives in England and France, maintaining homes in the north-east of England, London and Cannes.
He has recently taking over Living Well health club which is one of the biggest clubs in the U.K and naming it Bannatyne's Health Club.
[edit] References and footnotes
- ^ Anyone Can Do It, My Story by Duncan Bannatyne, 2006.
