Andrew Rosenfeld

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Andrew Ian Rosenfeld
Born
Andrew Rosenfeld

27 April 1962
Died8 February 2015
NationalityBritish
Alma materSouth Bank Polytechnic
OccupationProperty developer
Known forCo-founder, Minerva PLC
Spouse
Juliet Soskice
​
(m. 2014)​
Children4

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.

Early life[edit]

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]

Charitable activities[edit]

He was head of the U.K. 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[5] and was Chairman of the Full Stop Fellowship.[2]

Political involvement[edit]

Before the 2005 General Election he lent £1,033,000[6] 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.[7] Rosenfeld denied that he made the loan expecting to receive an honour in exchange[8] although he was nominated for one by some of Blair's top aides.[9] It was subsequently repaid in full by 2009.[10]

In 2010 Rosenfeld had abandoned his support of the Labour Party, choosing to endorse David Cameron, the Conservative candidate.[11] Rosenfeld said that Cameron was "the man for the job – no doubt about it" and that the Labour Party had "run out of time."[11] By 2011 Rosenfeld was again backing the Labour Party, having emerged as its "most generous private donor."[10] He had announced that he would donate £1 million to the Labour Party for the 2015 general election campaign.[4]

Career[edit]

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.[12] He took his first job after college with Schroders, where he worked for two years.[12] He subsequently worked at SW Berisford evaluating properties in New York and California.[12] In the mid-80s, at the age of 23, Rosenfeld was hired by David Garrard to run one of his companies, Land Investors.[12] By the end of the decade he and Garrard had founded Minerva.[12]

Rosenfeld was already joint chairman of Minerva in 1997 at the age of 35.[13] He, by that time chief executive of Minerva, replaced David Garrard as chairman of the company in March 2005.[14] Rosenfeld was replaced as chief executive at the end of June 2005.[15] He resigned as executive chairman in October 2005.[16] 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.[17]

The People's Operator[edit]

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.[18]

Personal life[edit]

In 2006 he moved to Geneva[4] to avoid paying taxes in Britain[19] but returned to the UK in April 2011.[20] 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.[20]

Rosenfeld had four children from his first marriage, which was dissolved. He married again in 2014, to Juliet Soskice,[2] a "close friend" of Ed Miliband.[21]

He died of lung cancer, despite never having smoked.[22][23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Labour donor Andrew Rosenfeld dies aged 52". Financial Times. 9 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c 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. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  3. ^ Surveyors, Royal Institution of Chartered. "Fellow (FRICS)". www.rics.org. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Marcus Dysch (15 April 2013). "Andrew Rosenfeld to be Labour Party's biggest donor". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. ^ "NSPCC Annual report 2011/12" (PDF). NSPCC. 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  6. ^ Daniel Bentley (24 August 2006). "Parties late reporting donations". The Birmingham Post.
  7. ^ David Leppard and Robert Winnett (29 October 2006). "Police close in on Blair over donors". The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  8. ^ Rajeev Syal and Andrew Pierce (21 April 2006). "Police scrutinise dossier on loans by Labour backers". The Times. p. 2.
  9. ^ David Leppard and Robert Winnett (22 July 2007). "No10 honours plot: four new names". The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  10. ^ a b Jim Pickard (26 September 2012). "The private donor with shifting political loyalties". Financial Times. p. 4.
  11. ^ a b "Labour donor jumps ship". The Sunday Times. 2 May 2010. p. 2.
  12. ^ a b c d e Matthew Lynn (25 January 1998). "Property whiz-kid who was to his manor born". The Sunday Times. p. 5.
  13. ^ David Parsley (28 December 1997). "The shares to buy for 1998 – Minerva". The Sunday Times. p. 2.
  14. ^ Jenny Davey (8 March 2005). "Doubt over Minerva liability". The Times. p. 41.
  15. ^ "Hasan takes over at Minerva". Financial Times. 11 May 2005. p. 23.
  16. ^ "MINERVA (MNR)". Investors Chronicle. 7 October 2005.
  17. ^ "Rosenfeld's New Year warning shot". London Evening Standard. 21 December 2007.
  18. ^ Tania Mason (19 November 2012). "Wealthy Labour donor launches mobile network with charity link". Civil Society. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  19. ^ Dominic Hayes (26 March 2007). "Protesters occupy site in battle over city academy". London Evening Standard.
  20. ^ a b Oliver Shah (14 April 2013). "Property mogul's £1m to Labour". The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  21. ^ "Ed Miliband tribute to deceased Labour Party donor Andrew Rosenfeld". timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  22. ^ Rosenfeld, Juliet (7 February 2020). "My husband never smoked but died of lung cancer. I wrote to keep him with me". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  23. ^ France, Louise. "The State of Disbelief: 'My husband's death was traumatic. I wish I could unsee it'". The Times. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
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