Luke Johnson (businessperson)

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For other persons of the same name, see Luke Johnson.

Luke Oliver Johnson (born 2 February 1962), is a British serial entrepreneur, best known for his involvement with Pizza Express. He is chairman of Channel 4, and writes a regular column for the Financial Times. Johnson calls himself a "projector", in line with the 17th century term for a man involved in many different businesses^[1].

1 Early Years and Education
2 Business Career
- 2.1 Restaurants and Leisure
- 2.2 Other Business Ventures
3 Journalism and Media
4 Other Activities
5 Inspiration and philosophy
6 Personal
7 Publications
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Early Years and Education

The son of historian and journalist Paul Johnson, he spent his early years in Iver, Buckinghamshire and went to Iver school. He passed the 11+ exam and then attended Langley Grammar School. Luke initially studied medicine at Oxford University, but switched to psychology and physiology after failing his anatomy examinations.

Whilst at university Johnson and fellow student Hugh Osmond (later founder of Punch Taverns) interviewed Richard Branson on his houseboat in London for the student newspaper^[2]. This gave the pair the inspiration to go into business and they began running the Era nightclub in Oxford. By the time of graduation Johnson claims that he and Osmond were running businesses from software to pubs.

After graduating in 1983 he started his career as a media analyst at stockbroker Grieveson Grant (subsequently Kleinwort Benson Securities).

[edit] Business Career

[edit] Restaurants and Leisure

In 1993 Johnson and Osmond took control of Pizza Express and Johnson subsequently became chairman. They expanded the business from 12 owned restaurants to over 250, and the share price from 40p to over 900p^[3].

After selling out in 1999 Johnson started Signature Restaurants, a ‘crown jewels’ collection of London restaurants which included The Ivy and Le Caprice, as well as the Belgo chain. He also started Strada restaurants from scratch and took the chain to 30 units. He sold both businesses in 2005; the total proceeds from these two disposals were in excess of £90 million^[4].

As a result of these activities, Johnson is perhaps best known for his investments in restaurants, stemming from his success with the Pizza Express chain. Peter Harden (of the celebrated Harden restaurant guides) stated, when commenting on the history of London restaurants, “there are very few people who have had more impact than Luke Johnson”^[5].

In the period 1993-to date, he has also been involved as director and / or owner of various quoted companies in retailing, pubs and bars, including Whittard of Chelsea and My Kinda Town and the private companies Giraffe and Patisserie Valerie.

[edit] Other Business Ventures

Johnson founded Integrated Dental Holdings with partners in 1996 and expanded it to the largest UK chain of dental surgeries with over 500 dentists. This was sold in 2006 for over £100 million^[6].

Johnson has also been involved in parcel delivery and maritime commerce through Nightfreight and American Port Services.

He is non-executive director of Elderstreet VCT plc, and founder/owner and director of InterQuest Group plc, a quoted recruitment business. From 2004 to 2006 he was director of Dollar Financial Group Inc, a US NASDAQ traded corporation with $80m EBITDA^[7].

Since 2000 Johnson has run Risk Capital Partners Ltd., focusing on private equity deals. In September 2007, Risk Capital Partners beat WH Smith to buying Borders (UK) Ltd., the chain of 41 Borders Group superstores and 28 Books etc. shops in the UK and Ireland, in a deal worth upwards of £20m.

He has been the principal owner of GRA, the UK's largest greyhound track owner, since early 2005 and the principal owner of Mayfair Gaming, the group of Riva bingo clubs, since 2004. This was sold in 2006 generating an internal rate of return of over 40%^[8].

He is also the owner and/or chairman of private firms in several sectors including directory publishing (Superbrands), fashion (East) and, between 2003-2006, advertising and design (Loewy Group). The Loewy investment was successfully sold in late 2006. Since early 2007 he has been a major owner and director of the market leader in car park equipment, APT Controls.

[edit] Journalism and Media

Johnson wrote a weekly business column for The Sunday Telegraph entitled “The Maverick”^[9] for eight years until 2006. In 2007, a book was published which compiled 84 of his Maverick articles.^[10] He now writes a column for the Financial Times.

Johnson became chairman of Channel 4 Television Corporation in January 2004^[11]. Since then, he has appointed a new chief executive, restructured the board and seen the organisation enjoy record ratings, revenues and profits. He also serves as chairman of trustees of the £150m Channel 4 staff pension plan.

[edit] Other Activities

Johnson was also governor of The University of the Arts between 2000 and 2006.

[edit] Inspiration and philosophy

As well as the meeting with Branson and an admiration for the durability of Rupert Murdoch, Johnson quotes the advice financier JP Morgan gave to a frantic man who asked him what the markets would do: "Young man, the market will continue to fluctuate." Johnson says: "It's a great piece of advice because if you're involved in the stock market you should never worry about the day-to-day price of your shares. What's more important is the reality of your day-to-day business."

Johnson's business philosophy is: "Not to dwell on mistakes and not to get overwhelmed with regret. When things go wrong you have to move forward and look at each week afresh."^[12]

[edit] Personal

Johnson is married with two children and lives in London.

[edit] Publications

The Maverick by Luke Johnson

[edit] References

[edit] External links