Arron Banks

Arron Banks
Born (1966-03-22) 22 March 1966
Education Crookham Court Manor School
The Castle School
Occupation Businessman
Spouse(s) Ekaterina Paderina
Children 5

Arron Fraser Andrew Banks (born 22 March 1966) is a British businessman and political donor. He is the co-founder (with Richard Tice) of the Leave.EU campaign.[1] A former Conservative Party donor, he came to prominence in October 2014 when he donated £1 million to the UK Independence Party.[2]

Personal life

Banks was educated at Crookham Court Manor School (since closed) in Berkshire until he was expelled.[3] He also attended The Castle School in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire.

He is a father of five and married to Russian "aspiring model" Ekaterina Paderina,[3] who reportedly previously received help to stay in the UK from the MP Mike Hancock.[4] The couple are separated. The Bristol Post reported that the police had issued Banks with a harassment notice in 2012.[5]

Banks lives in a mansion near Thornbury, north of Bristol, which was previously occupied by musician Mike Oldfield.[3][6]

Business career

Banks is currently the Chief Executive of Southern Rock Insurance Company, which underwrites insurance policies for the website GoSkippy.com which was founded by Banks.[7][8] 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).[9] After Banks' departure, Brightside took legal action against him, alleging he used confidential information in setting up GoSkippy.com six months later. There were also legal actions between Southern Rock and Brightside.[3][10]

He previously served as CEO of AIM listed Manx Financial Group from April 2008 to February 2009, and Chief Executive of Group Direct Limited.[11]

In 2016, the leaked Panama Papers indicated Banks was the shareholder of British Virgin Islands company PRI Holdings Limited, which was the sole shareholder of African Strategic Resources Limited.[12] Banks has stated that he has a controlling interest in a diamond mine in Kimberley, Northern Cape, and a licence to mine in Lesotho.[3][13]

Banks has an estimated wealth of £100 million.[3]

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.[14] He signalled his intention to stand for the UK Independence Party in the constituency of Thornbury and Yate at the 2015 general election.,[15] but the candidate chosen by the party was Russ Martin, who came third.

References

  1. ↑ "Millionaire Jim Mellon backs £20million 'anti-politics' campaign to leave EU as name revealed". Telegraph.co.uk. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ex-Tory donor Arron Banks gives £1m to UKIP". BBC News. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pickard, Jim; Stacey, Kiran (23 January 2015). "Tycoon Arron Banks unrepentant for backing Ukip". The Financial Times.
  4. ↑ Swinford, Steven; Rayner, Gordon (7 December 2010). "Russian 'spy' case: Liberal Democrat MP 'helped second Russian girl'". The Telegraph.
  5. ↑ Geoff Bennett (19 October 2014). "£1m UKIP donor Arron Banks was arrested for harassing female executive". Bristol Post. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Musician's old manor to become a luxury hotel". Bristol Post. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Former Tory donor raises Ukip donation to £1m over Hague comments". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "Go Skippy founder Banks to bankroll UKIP". InsuranceAge. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Arron Fraser Andrew Banks". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Paul Gallagher (3 October 2014). "Ukip’s £1m donor Arron Banks is accused of conspiracy by his old company". The Independent. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Andrew Chilvers (15 May 2007). "Arron Banks and John Gannon talk about serial deal making". growthbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Holly Watt (4 April 2016). "Tory donors '^ ' links to offshore firms revealed in leaked Panama Papers". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Rajeev Syal, Rebecca Davi (2 October 2014). "Ukip donor has links to Belize and mining in southern Africa". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "Conservative Party Donor Switches To UKIP". Sky News. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Go Skippy founder Arron Banks to stand as UKIP MP". Insurance Times. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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