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and PremiAir. In
February 2012 the heliport site was acquired by Reuben Brothers. In 2011 PremiAir went into liquidation. Von Essen Aviation owned several helicopters and a private jet. In 2010, Davis was ranked on the Sunday Times Rich List at No. 244, with an estimated wealth of £292m. According
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which was the UK's first country house hotel when it opened in the 1950s. According to the Good Food Guide's editor
Desmond Balmer, Cliveden, the infamous backdrop to the 1960s Profumo Scandal, "has not shone as a hotel for the past five years." Of Sharrow Bay, Balmer said "We have dropped it."
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Davis went to St Bede's
Comprehensive School. Reigate Grammar School and Caterham College in Surrey, near where his father, Brendon, an executive at a subsidiary of Redland Tiles, and his mother still live. During the early 1990s he was involved in small-scale property development, founding and
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House, near Bath (Country Set) – Hunstrete House
Limited, which operated the hotel under a licensing agreement with Von Essen Investments, went into voluntary liquidation and closed in May 2011 (the hotel had been purchased by Von Essen in April 2007 for almost
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In 2007, after claims of Fawlty Towers-style bungling and poor service, seven of Davis's hotels were axed from The Good Hotel Guide, the leading arbiter of independent hotels in
Britain and Ireland.
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to the Sunday Times of 26 April 2009, von Essen sponsored the Sunday Times Rich List. Since then the veracity of these estimates, and of Davis's public persona, has been questioned.
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Fort, Pembrokeshire (Other – Development opportunity) – purchased by Von Essen in July 1999 for under £275,000 from Peter
Williamson, sold to Kent Mushrooms Ltd (owner of
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Davis's ex partner is Andrew Onraet, they lived together from 1998 until 2010. Prior to that, Davis appears to have married once. He is the father of one son.
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charter business. It has been reported that Davis's first moneymaking business was selling jewellery and silver spoons door-to-door in the West
Country.
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22:(born 12 February 1964) is a British businessman who founded the von Essen Group, which included Von Essen Hotels, PremiAir and the London Heliport.
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properties (Buckland Manor, Lower
Slaughter and Washbourne Court) and The Elms in the Teme Valley. The icing on the cake was the acquisition of the
114:
The holding company, Von Essen Hotels, went into administration in April 2011 after defaulting on debt interest repayments. The administrators,
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The Mount
Somerset, Somerset (Country Set) – Von Essen's first hotel, purchased in 1994, acquired by The Eden Hotel Collection (owned by Sir
552:
128:, West Sussex (Classic Set) – purchased by Von Essen in August 2007 for £12m from Martin and Joy Cummings, guide price £13.5m, acquired by
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16 The Royal
Crescent, Bath (Classic Set) – guide price £22.5m; negotiations with the Livingstone brothers did not lead to a sale
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The Greenway, Gloucestershire (Country Set) – guide price £3.5m, acquired by The Eden Hotel Collection (owned by Sir
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New Park Manor, Hampshire (Country Set) – Von Essen's second hotel, purchased in 1998, guide price £5.5m with 3 acres
155:
Cliveden, Buckinghamshire (Classic Set) – leasehold guide price £35m, reportedly sold for £30m in February 2012 to
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Homewood Park, Bath (Country Set) – guide price £3.5m, acquired by Longleat Enterprises Limited by 7 November 2011
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192:, mid Wales (Other) – purchased by Von Essen in 2010, placed into administration by 4 November 2011
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Lewtrenchard Manor, Devon (Country Set) – leasehold guide price £750,000 (in need of refurbishment)
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Congham Hall, Norfolk (Country Set) – von Essen's third hotel, purchased in 1999, guide price £3m
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The Samling, Cumbria (Classic Set) – guide price £6m, sold to private buyers by 25 October 2011
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651:"Cliveden's latest scandal and how its tycoon owner duped the banks and London society"
574:"Cliveden sale to complete tomorrow as new owners promise to return property's sparkle"
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Lobbying for Power; the Mysterious 'Lord' Davis Owns Cliveden and the Royal Crescent
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Washbourne Court, Gloucestershire (Country Set) – guide price £5m, acquired by
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330:"Andrew DAVIS - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)"
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Buckland Manor, Gloucestershire (Classic Set) – guide price £6m, acquired by
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Bishopstrow House, Wiltshire (Country Set) – guide price £6m, acquired by
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Sharrow Bay, Cumbria (Classic Set) – freehold/leasehold guide price £5m
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Manor, Gloucestershire (Classic Set) – guide price £8m, acquired by
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Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire (Classic Set) – guide price £7.5m
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Château de Bagnols, France (Continental Set) – guide price €12.5m
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By 2000, Von Essen had three properties: Mount Somerset hotel in
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Dalhousie Castle, Edinburgh (Country Set) – guide price £7.5m
605:"Property magnates poised to buy Profumo mansion Cliveden"
497:"Von Essen in administration after defaulting on interest"
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Callow Hall, Derbyshire (Country Set) – guide price £2.25m
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Woolley Grange, Wiltshire (Family Set) – guide price £4m
630:
Chittenden, Maurice; McCall, Alastair (26 April 2009).
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Ynyshir Hall, Wales (Classic Set) – guide price £1.5m
208:, Dorset (Family Set) – guide price £5m with 12 acres
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356:"Von Essen Hotels acquires London Heliport for £50m"
83:hotel in Bath, for £50m. In 2003, Von Essen bought
478:"Comedy of hotel errors provokes axe by top guide"
217:, County Durham (Country Set) – guide price £12.5m
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559:, 5 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
261:) by 25 November 2011 with a guide price of £3m
235:, Worcestershire (Family Set) – guide price £6m
170:Hall, Cornwall (Family Set) – guide price £6.5m
553:Offers made on two-thirds of von Essen hotels
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530:. Reed Business Information. Archived from
226:, Somerset (Classic Set) – guide price £5m
632:"Golden secrets of the recession beaters"
284:'s Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011
202:'s Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011
146:'s Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011
132:'s Bath Priory Limited by 20 October 2011
75:was bought in 2001. In 2002 Davis leased
524:"Von Essen announce senior redundancies"
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67:in Gloucestershire for around £5m each.
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229:The Dower House, Suffolk (Family Set)
495:Russell, Jonathan (21 April 2011).
453:. 10 September 2004. Archived from
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603:Neate, Rupert (2 September 2011).
476:Smith, David (12 September 2004).
354:Walsh, Dominic (9 February 2007).
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572:Harmer, Janet (30 January 2012).
734:21st-century English LGBT people
649:Stephen Robinson (31 May 2011).
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578:Caterer & Hotelkeeper
101:Sharrow Bay Country House
47:, Congham Hall hotel in
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55:. In 2000, it bought
714:English businesspeople
299:In 2007, Davis bought
51:and New Park Manor in
447:"Losing at Monopoly?"
26:Early life and career
425:2 April 2012 at the
248:) by 3 November 2011
16:British businessman
584:on 2 February 2012
457:on 27 January 2012
85:Lewtrenchard Manor
31:operating a small
719:British hoteliers
528:CatererSearch.com
282:Andrew Brownsword
272:Chislehurst Caves
241:, Reading (Other)
239:The Forbury Hotel
200:Andrew Brownsword
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268:Thorn Island
252:The Ickworth
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20:Andrew Davis
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729:1964 births
660:10 February
615:6 September
259:Peter Rigby
246:Peter Rigby
215:Seaham Hall
698:Categories
588:4 February
461:4 February
339:11 October
316:References
87:in Devon,
33:helicopter
638:. London.
636:The Times
484:. London.
391:7 January
360:The Times
180:Hunstrete
103:hotel in
97:Cotswolds
93:Edinburgh
73:Wiltshire
71:hotel in
53:Hampshire
684:PremiAir
611:. London
423:Archived
401:cite web
233:The Elms
137:Longleat
77:Cliveden
538:20 June
507:20 June
105:Cumbria
49:Norfolk
45:Taunton
365:3 June
168:Fowey
91:near
662:2016
617:2011
590:2012
540:2011
509:2011
463:2012
407:link
393:2019
367:2007
341:2020
183:£6m)
63:and
61:Bath
59:in
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