Andrew Davis (businessman)

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Andrew Davis is a British businessman and the founder and chairman^[1] of von Essen Hotels.

1 Early career
2 von Essen Hotels
3 Other Businesses and Wealth
4 Source of finance
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early career

Davis originally trained as a commercial lawyer specialising in antiques and fine arts. From 1986 to 1992 he worked as legal director and in house counsel to a major fine art house and was involved in property development, property investment and farming.

From 1993, he expanded his property and art trading activities to Monaco, France, Spain and the United States. He also founded and operated a small helicopter charter business.

[edit] von Essen Hotels

von Essen was founded with aid of a trust fund set up by his Austrian aunt, the Countess von Essen, and Davis seems to have unlimited funds to drive his ambition.^{[citation needed]}

His personal interest in flying has added a unique service to the stable of luxurious and individual hotels he has built up, namely a fleet of helicopters that will fly guests to any of its hotels from Battersea Heliport in London.

The group had three properties (Mount Somerset hotel in Taunton, Congham Hall hotel in Norfolk and New Park Manor in Hampshire) by 2000, when it purchased Ston Easton Park in Bath and Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire for around £5m a piece.

Bishopstrow House hotel in Wiltshire followed in 2001. The following year Davis bought the world famous Cliveden in Berkshire, along with the Royal Crescent hotel in Bath, for £50m.

2003 was a bumper year for growth. von Essen bought Lewtrenchard Manor in Devon, Dalhousie Castle near Edinburgh, and four Cotswolds properties for £16m (Buckland Manor, Lower Slaughter, Washbourne Court and The Elms). The icing on the cake was the acquisition of the legendary Sharrow Bay hotel in Cumbria which was the UK's first country house hotel when it opened in the 1950s.

In 2005, Davis added the Greenway hotel in Gloucestershire and Homewood Park hotel in Bath.

At the start of 2006, Davis targeted the family friendly market when he snapped up three of the four Luxury Family Hotels group established by Nigel Chapman and Nicholas Dickinson in 1993 for £20m.

By September, he had added the fourth property, Ickworth hotel, after renegotiating a deeply unattractive lease with landowner the National Trust. It joins Cliveden as one of two Von Essen hotels to be leased from the National Trust, where Davis sees possible future opportunities.

The same month, Davis snapped up his first Welsh property, the celebrated Ynyshir Hall which is the only hotel in Wales to belong to the exclusive Relais & Chateau consortium and one of just two to hold a Michelin star.

He is already working on a second Welsh property in the form of a romantic island retreat on Thorne Island, which will be linked to the Pembroke coast by cable car.

Along with a five star international hotel, the island in the Pembrokeshire National Park will offer a sea water spa, a preview cinema with editing suite, a contemporary seafood restaurant hosted by a celebrity chef.

Currently his business continues to grow at a fast past.

[edit] Other Businesses and Wealth

In 2007 Davis bought London Heliport and Premi Air to add to his other aviation business von Essen Aviation which own several helicopters and a private jet. Davis has stated that he hopes to buy several more airports and aviation businesses in the UK.

Davis is ranked on the Sunday Times Ritch List at #380, with an estimated wealth of £210m.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Source of finance

Davis claims that his money comes from a wealthy Austrian aunt, the Countess von Essen, the namesake of von Essen Hotels.

The Times reported that von Essen Hotels is funded "largely through bank debt and family trusts", but notes that Davis is secretive about von Essen's funding.^[2]

In 2004, the Sunday Times Rich List refused to feature Davis, because its editors were not sure where his money had come from.

In 2004, The Times reports allegations that Sir Paul McCartney was "prepared to help finance his purchase of a landmark hotel in London",^[2] and that McCartney's son-in-law, Alasdhair Willis, was to become his creative director.^[2]