Arron Banks

Arron Fraser Andrew Banks (born 22 March 1966) is a British businessman and political donor. A former Conservative Party donor, he came to prominence in October 2014 when he donated £1 million to the UK Independence Party.[1]

Business career

He was educated at The Castle School in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. He is currently the Chief Executive of Southern Rock Insurance Company who underwrite insurance policies for the website GoSkippy.com which was founded by Banks.[2][3] He previously co-founded Brightside Group in 2005, and served as its CEO from June 2011 to June 2012 at which time the company was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).[4] He also previously served as CEO of AIM listed Manx Financial Group from April 2008 to February 2009, and Chief Executive of Group Direct Limited.

UK Independence Party

On 1 October 2014 Banks announced that he would be donating £100,000 to the UK Independence Party, however following comments by William Hague that he did not know who Banks was, Banks decided to increase his donation to £1 million.[5] He has signalled his intention to stand for the UK Independence Party in the constituency of Thornbury and Yate at the 2015 general election.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-Tory donor Arron Banks gives £1m to UKIP". BBC News. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Former Tory donor raises Ukip donation to £1m over Hague comments". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Go Skippy founder Banks to bankroll UKIP". InsuranceAge. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Arron Fraser Andrew Banks". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Conservative Party Donor Switches To UKIP". Sky News. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Go Skippy founder Arron Banks to stand as UKIP MP". Insurance Times. Retrieved 3 October 2014.