Edwin Davies

Edwin Davies
Born 18 June 1946
Little Lever, England
Residence Isle of Man
Education Farnworth Grammar School
Alma mater Durham University
Occupation Businessman, philanthropist
Net worth Decrease£65 million (2009)
Title Lord of the Manor of Farnworth
Spouse(s) Susan Davies
Children 2

Edwin Davies (OBE) (CBE) (born 1946) is a British businessman and philanthropist. He served as the Chairman of the Strix Group from 1984 to 2006. He was the owner of Bolton Wanderers F.C. until March 2016, when Dean Holdsworth fronted a consortium to take over the club. The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London are named in his honour.

Early life

Edwin Davies was born on 18 June 1946 in Little Lever, near Bolton, Lancashire, England.[1][2] He was educated at the Farnworth Grammar School in Farnworth, Lancashire, England.[1][2] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Durham University.[1][3]

Career

Davies started his career at Avon Rubber.[3] He worked in management at the Scapa Group from 1968 to 1984.[1] He served as the Chairman of the Strix Group from 1984 to 2006.[1]

He joined the Board of Directors of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in 1999.[2] By 2003, he became the majority shareholder of Burnden Leisure, which owns the Bolton Wanderers F.C..[2] In 2011-2013, he was still the owner of the team.[4][5] In October 2014, it was announced that Davies was ready to sell the team.[6]

He serves on the Boards of Directors of Moonshift Investments, Sula Group, and Squarestone Brasil.[3] He has been a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants since 1985 and the Chartered Management Institute since 1996.[3] He became a Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for Services to Industry in 2000.[2]

As of 2004, he was the 558th richest man in the United Kingdom, with an estimated wealth of £60million.[2]

Philanthropy

He is a former Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.[1] The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries at the V&A are the result of charitable donations from Davies and his wife.[7] Those five galleries include 200 paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, J. M. W. Turner, Sandro Botticelli, Tintoretto, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edgar Degas and Eugène Delacroix.[8]

He made a charitable contribution of £100,000 to the Royal Bolton Hospital in Bolton for the establishment of a coronary care unit.[2] He also made charitable gift to the Manchester Business School,[3] part of the University of Manchester, which led to the establishment of the Eddie Davies Library.[9] He received an honorary doctorate in 2008.[1]

He became a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for charitable services in 2011.[10]

Personal life

He is married to Susan Davies.[8] They have two children.[2] They reside on the Isle of Man.[5] He underwent coronary artery bypass surgery in 1996.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Debretts: Edwin Davies
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Eddie Davies profile, Manchester Evening News, 12 August 2004
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bloomberg: Edwin Davies OBE
  4. ↑ Jamie Jackson, Bolton Wanderers clinging on thanks to owner Eddie Davies's generosity, The Guardian, 31 December 2013
  5. 1 2 Matt Scott, Bolton Wanderers have more to worry about than 'crisis-hit' Arsenal, The Guardian, 22 September 2011
  6. ↑ Mark Ogden, Bolton Wanderers for sale, reveals chairman Phil Gartside, The Daily Telegraph, 9 October 2014
  7. ↑ Victoria & Albert Museum: Room 87: Constable, Turner & the Exhibition Landscape
  8. 1 2 Refurbishment of the paintings galleries, 2003: The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries
  9. ↑ Manchester Business School: Eddie Davies Library
  10. ↑ New Year honours list: GBEs, DBEs and CBEs, 31 December 2011
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