Lloyd Dorfman

Lloyd Marshall Dorfman
Born (1952-08-25) August 25, 1952
Residence London
Nationality British
Occupation Businessman
Known for Founder of Travelex
Spouse(s) Sarah Dorfman

Lloyd Marshall Dorfman (born 25 August 1952) is a British entrepreneur and philanthropist. Having founded Travelex, today known as Travelex Group, the world's largest retailer of foreign exchange. Dorfman was appointed CBE in 2008 in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to business and charity.[1]

Early life and education

Dorfman was educated at St Paul's.[2] He did not attend university.[3]

Career

In 1976, Dorfman started his own currency exchange business from one small shop based in Southampton Row in central London.[4] The company spread to ports overseas, initially in the Netherlands and Belgium.[5] In 1986, Dorfman won Travelex a landmark contract as the first non-bank foreign exchange provider at the newly opened Heathrow Terminal 4. The company expanded into airports worldwide, opening in the USA in 1989 shortly followed by Australia in 1990.[5][6]

The £440m acquisition of Thomas Cook's Global & Financial Services business in March 2001 made the Travelex Group the world's largest non-bank foreign exchange business. Dorfman began to develop the presence of the company in Asia, starting with Japan and spreading to India in 2003 and China in 2004.[7]

Travelex sold its card programme management business to Mastercard for £290 million in 2011, and then its Global Business Payments to Western Union for £606 million. In 2014, an agreement was reached to sell Travelex to shareholders in Abu Dhabi, Dorfman however, still retains a 5% shareholding.[8]

Travelex pioneered sponsorship deals including Travelex Cheap Ticket Season at the National Theatre,[9] as well as sponsoring the winning World Cup teams for Australian Cricket in 2003 and England Rugby the same year.

Current Business Activity

Dorfman is Chairman and majority shareholder of The Office Group, the British pioneers of co-working spaces. The Group has over 30 buildings spanning across central London. Its clients include thousands of small businesses and start-ups as well as larger companies.[10] In 2014, he co-founded and became Chairman of Doddle,[11] a retail business enabling people to collect, return and send their online shopping from train stations and elsewhere.[12][13] Dorfman is also a lead investor and board member of the London Theatre Company.[14]

Dorfman has a number of other business interests, including shareholder and Board Director of Ben Ainslie Racing’s America’s Cup Challenge.

Philanthropy

Dorfman is a leading philanthropist. He is Chairman of youth and enterprise charity the Prince’s Trust, having joined the charity’s Council in 2007. He is also the Chairman of Prince’s Trust International, which aims to help unemployed young people around the globe into education, training and work.

In addition, he is a Trustee of the Royal Opera House, of the Royal Academy Trust and of JW3; Deputy Chairman of the Community Security Trust, and a Governor of St Paul’s School.[15]

He was also on the board of the Royal National Theatre from 2007 to 2015, and the National Theatre's Cottesloe was renamed the Dorfman Theatre in 2013 following a gift of £10 million towards the National Theatre Future redevelopment project.[16]

Awards

In 2001 Dorfman was the winner of the Consumer Business Category in the UK "Entrepreneur of the Year" awards sponsored by Ernst & Young, Citibank and The Times. In 2002 he received the British American Chamber of Commerce's UK Entrepreneurial Award, and the Institute of Economic Affairs' Free Enterprise Award. In 2007 he received the Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK award.

In 2008 Dorfman was appointed CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to business and charity. In 2011, he was awarded The Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy.[17] He is an Honorary Fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford and an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science by Buckingham University in 2016.[18]

Personal life

He is married with three children, four grandchildren, and lives in London.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "TV entertainers head honours list". BBC News. 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  2. ↑ "Lloyd Bio Bloomberg". bloomberg.
  3. ↑ "Dinner with Lloyd Dorfman - Prelude". Prelude. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  4. ↑ "About Us |Travelex UK". www.travelex.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  5. 1 2 "Travelex history". www.travelex-corporate.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  6. ↑ Dorfman, Lloyd. "Entrepreneurs are risk-takers – but voting Out is a step too far". www.cityam.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  7. ↑ "Travelex history". www.travelex-corporate.com. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  8. ↑ "Travelex sold to owner of UAE Exchange in £1bn deal". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  9. ↑ "The man who introduced cheap theatre tickets is a hard act follow". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  10. ↑ "The People | The Office Group". The Office Group. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  11. ↑ "Now I’ve hitched my wagons to the internet shopping express | The Sunday Times". www.thesundaytimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  12. ↑ "Doddle Chairman explains how Doddle works and what it aims to achieve | Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  13. ↑ Dorfman, Lloyd. "Clicks vs bricks is gone: E-commerce firms need both". www.cityam.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  14. ↑ "Lloyd Dorfman: A tycoon blurring lines between business and charity". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  15. ↑ "Lloyd Dorfman: A tycoon blurring lines between business and charity". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  16. ↑ Theatre, National. "News | National Theatre NT Future". ntfuture.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  17. ↑ "Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy 2011 - News stories - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  18. ↑ "Honorary Graduates 2016 | University of Buckingham". www.buckingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  19. ↑ "Prince's Trust Council". www.princes-trust.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
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