Andrew Rosenfeld

Andrew Ian Rosenfeld (27 April 1962 – 8 February 2015)[1] was a British businessman who was co-founder, Chief Executive, and chairman of Minerva plc. He volunteered for a number of charitable organisations and was a major donor to the Labour Party. Rosenfeld was one of twelve wealthy donors to the Labour Party named in the Cash for Honours scandal of 2006. In 2012 he co-founded The People's Operator, a mobile telephone company.

Personal life

Rosenfeld had a bachelor's degree in Estate Management from South Bank Polytechnic,[2] and thereafter qualified as a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.[3] In 2006 he moved to Geneva[4] to avoid paying taxes in Britain[5] but returned to the UK in April 2011.[6] While he lived in Switzerland he held many of his assets offshore in the British Virgin Islands, but upon returning to Britain moved them back into that country.[6]

Rosenfeld had four children from his first marriage, which was dissolved. He married again in 2014.[2]

Charitable activities

He was head of the UK National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's "Full Stop" campaign, raising £250 million which is the largest sum ever raised in Britain for a single children's appeal. Formerly he was a Jewish Care trustee.[4] He was a Vice-President of the NSPCC[7] and was Chairman of the Full Stop Fellowship.[2]

Political involvement

Before the 2005 General Election he lent £1,033,000[8] to the Labour Party as part of the Cash for Honours scandal and, in partial return, was invited to a private dinner with Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.[9] Rosenfeld denied that he made the loan expecting to receive an honour in exchange[10] although he was nominated for one by some of Blair's top aides.[11] It was subsequently repaid in full by 2009.[12]

In 2010 Rosenfeld had abandoned his support of the Labour Party, choosing to endorse David Cameron, the Conservative candidate.[13] Rosenfeld said that Cameron was "the man for the job – no doubt about it" and that the Labour Party had "run out of time."[13] By 2011 Rosenfeld was again backing the Labour Party, having emerged as its "most generous private donor."[12] He had announced that he would donate £1 million to the Labour Party for the 2015 UK General Election campaign.[4]

Career

Rosenfeld's father and grandfather were both in real-estate and he learned the rudiments of the trade by tagging along with his father while he evaluated properties.[14] He took his first job after college with Schroders, where he worked for two years.[14] He subsequently worked at SW Berisford evaluating properties in New York and California.[14] In the mid-80s, at the age of 23, Rosenfeld was hired by David Garrard to run one of his companies, Land Investors.[14] By the end of the decade he and Garrard had founded Minerva.[14]

Rosenfeld was already joint chairman of Minerva in 1997 at the age of 35.[15] He, by that time chief executive of Minerva, replaced David Garrard as chairman of the company in March 2005.[16] Rosenfeld was replaced as chief executive at the end of June 2005.[17] He resigned as executive chairman in October 2005.[18] While living in Geneva as a tax exile he set up a company called "Air Capital" and formed a partnership with the Goldman Sachs Whitehall Fund.[19]

The People's Operator

In 2012 Rosenfeld founded a new mobile phone company, The People's Operator, that contributes 10% of income and 25% of profits to charity and other non-profit organisations.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Jim Pickard, "Labour donor Andrew Rosenfeld Dies", The Financial Times (9 February 2015)
  2. 1 2 3 Marcus Williamson (13 February 2015). "Andrew Rosenfeld: Businessman who made a fortune from property then became a noted philanthropist and Labour Party donor". The Independent. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  3. ↑ www.rics.org
  4. 1 2 3 Marcus Dysch (15 April 2013). "Andrew Rosenfeld to be Labour Party's biggest donor". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Dominic Hayes (26 March 2007). "Protesters occupy site in battle over city academy". London Evening Standard.
  6. 1 2 Oliver Shah (14 April 2013). "Property mogul's £1m to Labour". The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  7. ↑ "NSPCC Annual report 2011/12" (PDF). NSPCC. 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  8. ↑ Daniel Bentley (24 August 2006). "Parties late reporting donations". The Birmingham Post.
  9. ↑ David Leppard and Robert Winnett (29 October 2006). "Police close in on Blair over donors". The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  10. ↑ Rajeev Syal and Andrew Pierce (21 April 2006). "Police scrutinise dossier on loans by Labour backers". The Times. p. 2.
  11. ↑ David Leppard and Robert Winnett (22 July 2007). "No10 honours plot: four new names". The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  12. 1 2 Jim Pickard (26 September 2012). "The private donor with shifting political loyalties". Financial Times. p. 4.
  13. 1 2 "Labour donor jumps ship". The Sunday Times. 2 May 2010. p. 2.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Matthew Lynn (25 January 1998). "Property whiz-kid who was to his manor born". The Sunday Times. p. 5.
  15. ↑ David Parsley (28 December 1997). "The shares to buy for 1998 – Minerva". The Sunday Times. p. 2.
  16. ↑ Jenny Davey (8 March 2005). "Doubt over Minerva liability". The Times. p. 41.
  17. ↑ "Hasan takes over at Minerva". Financial Times. 11 May 2005. p. 23.
  18. ↑ "MINERVA (MNR)". Investors Chronicle. 7 October 2005.
  19. ↑ "Rosenfeld's New Year warning shot". London Evening Standard. 21 December 2007.
  20. ↑ Tania Mason (19 November 2012). "Wealthy Labour donor launches mobile network with charity link". Civil Society. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
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