David Garrard (property developer)

David Garrard was born Streatham on 12 January 1939, the son of a Stamford Hill upholsterer.{{cite book|author1=W. Rubinstein|author2=Michael A. Jolles|title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spOxzrifZjcC&pg=PT631|accessdate=1 April 2018|date=27 January 2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-30466-6|page=631}} He attended Battersea Grammar School in South London.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oldgrammarians.org.uk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815121302/http://www.oldgrammarians.org.uk/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 August 2016|title=OGA Home Page - Old Grammarians - Battersea Grammar School|last=Grammar School|first=Battersea|date=2018-04-26|website=www.oldgrammarians.org.uk|access-date=2018-04-26}} Garrard is Jewish.{{cite book |last1=Singer |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98Y-vc2xsCwC&pg=PA377 |title=American Jewish Year |last2=Grossman |first2=Lawrence |publisher=VNR AG |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-87495-126-4 |page=377 |accessdate=1 April 2018}}

Garrard was married for forty-seven years to Maureen, who became a director of The Garrard Family Foundation{{Cite web |title=THE GARRARD FAMILY FOUNDATION - Officers (free information from Companies House) |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04198833/officers |access-date=2018-04-26 |website=beta.companieshouse.gov.uk |language=en}} and The Garrard Academy.{{Cite web |last=Academy |first=The Garrard |date=2018-04-26 |title=THE GARRARD ACADEMY - Officers (free information from Companies House) |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04233659/officers |access-date=2018-04-26 |website=beta.companieshouse.gov.uk |language=en}} She died in 2011.

Garrard left school at 16 and joined an estate agency. He co-founded Minerva PLC with Andrew Rosenfeld,{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/andrew-rosenfeld-wpd0ffjw3rz|title=Andrew Rosenfeld|date=10 February 2015|work=The Times|access-date=1 April 2018}} {{subscription required}} a property investment and development company, whose shares are quoted in the London Stock Exchange FTSE 250 Index, and served as its chairman for many years until his retirement in March 2005. Before co-founding Minerva, Garrard worked as a financial adviser.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/2f64a0d4-1678-11e4-a5c7-00144feabdc0|title=Property tycoon Sir David Garrard gives £500,000 to Labour party|website=Financial Times|date=28 July 2014|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-07-19|url-access=subscription |last1=Pickard|first1=Jim}} In 2008, he set up a venture capital business with his son in law Alexander Salter, but the two fell out when Salter and Garrard's daughter divorced in 2013, leading to a High Court case.

Garrard was listed by the Sunday Times Rich List 2005 as the joint 451st richest person in the UK, with a fortune in excess of £100 million,{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} falling to 575th with £95 million in 2009.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/sir-david-garrard-and-family-qlmnxjk7qd3 |title=Sir David Garrard and family|work=The Sunday Times|location=London |date=26 April 2009 |access-date=1 April 2018}} {{subscription required}}

In 2014 Garrard was involved in a legal dispute with his former son-in-law related to an alleged attempted transfer of £2.5 million from a bank account and the appointment of Lord Mendelsohn as a director of jointly owned companies.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10969400/Labour-donor-tried-to-transfer-2.5m-from-daughter-and-son-in-laws-joint-account.html |title=Labour donor 'tried to transfer £2.5m from daughter and son-in-law's joint account' |last=Rayner |first=Gordon |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=16 July 2014 |accessdate=2 April 2018}}

In 2002 the first city academy under a new Labour programme, Business Academy Bexley (now Harris Garrard Academy) was opened by prime minister Tony Blair with Garrard as principal sponsor with a financial contribution of £2.5 million. Garrard chaired its governing body.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2249188.stm |title=Academy opens doors to the future |work=BBC News |date=10 September 2002 |accessdate=1 April 2018}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3344116/Beacon-school-takes-on-Ofsted.html |title='Beacon' school takes on Ofsted |last=Lightfoot |first=Liz |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=15 September 2004 |accessdate=1 April 2018}}

Before the 2005 General Election Garrard secretly provided the Labour Party with a loan of £2.3 million at a time when loans on commercial terms did not have to be declared, to be repaid on 28 April 2007.{{cite news|last=Rayner|first=Gordon|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10969400/Labour-donor-tried-to-transfer-2.5m-from-daughter-and-son-in-laws-joint-account.html|title=Labour donor 'tried to transfer £2.5m from daughter and son-in-law's joint account'|date=16 July 2014|work=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=1 April 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/labfullloandetails.cfm#loan28 |title=Labour Party full details of borrowings |publisher=Electoral Commission |accessdate=2007-06-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618202318/http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/labfullloandetails.cfm#loan28 |archive-date=2007-06-18 }} Following the discovery of the loan in the course of the Cash for Honours political scandal in the UK, Garrard withdrew his nomination for a peerage.{{cite news|last=Wintour|first=Patrick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/mar/21/uk.partyfunding1|title=Labour seeks to damp down scandal by naming sources of £13.9m loans|work=The Guardian|date=21 March 2006|accessdate=1 April 2018}}{{cite news|last=Seib|first=Christine|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/allders-workers-rail-against-peerage-for-garrard-m523kd3sq9m|title=Allders workers rail against peerage for Garrard|work=The Times|date=9 November 2005|access-date=31 March 2018}} {{subscription required}} The loan was extended, and Gerrard eventually called for it to be repaid in 2015, in a reaction against the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.{{cite news |last1=Lyons|first1=James|last2=Woolf|first2=Marie|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/top-labour-backer-calls-in-pound2m-loan-as-donors-revolt-bkgkltb7pjk |title=Top Labour backer calls in £2m loan as donors revolt|work=The Times|location=London|date=4 October 2015 |access-date=1 April 2018}} {{subscription required}}

In 2013, Garrard hosted a visit to Israel by eleven Labour MPs, including shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy, shadow defence minister Gemma Doyle, Labour Friends of Israel chair Anne McGuire and vice-chair Louise Ellman.{{cite news|last=Dysch|first=Marcus|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/senior-labour-mps-to-join-delegation-to-israel-1.49110 |title=Senior Labour MPs to join delegation to Israel|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=24 September 2013|accessdate=1 April 2018}} He also sponsored the 2014 Labour Friends of Israel annual lunch, which included a speech by Labour leader Ed Miliband.{{cite news|last=Rocker|first=Simon|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/miliband-warms-the-hearts-of-the-labour-friends-1.55374 |title=Miliband warms the hearts of the Labour Friends|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=19 June 2014|accessdate=1 April 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ukpol.co.uk/ed-miliband-2014-speech-to-labour-friends-of-israel/ |title=Ed Miliband - 2014 Speech to Labour Friends of Israel |publisher=UKPOL |date=9 December 2015 |accessdate=1 April 2018}}

In 2014, Garrard donated £500,000 to the Labour party, one of the largest private donations under Ed Miliband's leadership.{{cite web|last=Pickard|first=Jim|url=https://www.ft.com/content/2f64a0d4-1678-11e4-a5c7-00144feabdc0|title=Property tycoon Sir David Garrard gives £500,000 to Labour party|work=Financial Times|date=28 July 2014|accessdate=31 March 2018}} This prompted criticism of "double standards" when the media reported that Garrard had placed shares in an offshore trust to avoid tax, similar to Conservative donor and co-treasurer Lord Fink, whom Labour had criticised.{{cite news|last1=Lyons|first1=James|last2=Boswell|first2=Josh|last3=Thomas|first3=Jon Ungoed|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/inspiration/ski-holiday/top-labour-donor-in-tax-haven-row-b7plfgswgzk |title=Top Labour donor in tax haven row|work=The Times |location=London |date=15 February 2015|access-date=1 April 2018}} {{subscription required}}

Garrard left the Labour Party in March 2018 due to his unhappiness with the party's response to allegations of antisemitism.{{cite news|last=Savage|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/31/labour-jewish-donor-michael-garrard-quits-party-antisemitism|title=Leading Jewish donor ditches Labour over antisemitism|work=The Observer|date=31 March 2018|accessdate=31 March 2018}} In February 2019, Garrard added that he had concerns about the nation's future should Corbyn lead the country. "From the very outset of Mr Corbyn’s leadership I had feared the ultra-Left Marxist/Socialist nature of the Labour party’s new leadership and its supporters, all of which led me to conclude that a socialist republic for our nation was what these politicians intend".{{cite news|last=Savage|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/23/corbyn-told-change-course-before-its-too-late-for-labour-michael-savage|title=Corbyn told: change course before it's too late for Labour|work=The Observer|date=23 February 2019|accessdate=25 March 2019}}

After leaving the party, he has provided funding on several occasions to Tom Watson in addition to his support for Change UK.{{cite news|url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/lead-tom-watson-criticised-taking-money-change-uk-funder|title=Tom Watson criticised for taking money from Change UK funder|last=Millar|first=Phil|date=29 April 2018|accessdate=17 July 2019|work=Morning Star}}

In February 2019 Garrard provided funding to support the launch of pro-EU political group The Independent Group; the amount as reported by The Sunday Telegraph was £1.5 million.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/23/one-labours-biggest-private-backers-has-donated-independent/ |title=One of Labour's biggest private backers gives £1.5m to The Independent Group |last=Malnick |first=Edward |newspaper=Sunday Telegraph |date=23 February 2019 |accessdate=25 April 2019}}{{cite news|last=Savage|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/23/corbyn-told-change-course-before-its-too-late-for-labour-michael-savage|title=Corbyn told: change course before it's too late for Labour|work=The Observer|date=23 February 2019|accessdate=24 February 2019}}

Garrard was knighted in the 2003 New Year Honours.

Garrard is a patron of children's charity Lifeline 4 Kids, is a trustee of the Police Foundation, and has been a director of the Princes Trust Business Division.{{Cite news|url=http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/about/trustees-patrons-and-associates/|title=Trustees and patrons|date=2017-08-14|work=The Police Foundation|access-date=2018-09-09|language=en-GB}}

Garrard donated £2.4 million to the Bexley Business Academy (now known as the Harris Garrard Academy), a first- and second-level school, and chaired its governing body.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blair-told-police-donors-were-being-honoured-for-services-to-labour-these-documents-say-different-428845.html|title=Blair told police donors were being honoured for services to Labour.|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-09-09|language=en-GB}} The Business Academy Bexley was renamed the Harris Garrard Academy when it was taken over by the Harris Federation in 2017, to reflect the support Garrard had put into the academy.{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/cleverbox/docs/20528_hfed_garrard_consultation_boo |title=The Garrard Academy and the Harris Federation |publisher=Harris Federation |year=2017 |accessdate=1 April 2018 |quote=We are pleased to be using the name Garrard in the title to reflect the work and support that The Garrard Foundation and Sir David Garrard have put into the academy so far.}}{{sps|date=September 2018}}

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Category:1939 births

Category:Living people

Category:British philanthropists

Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:British real estate and property developers

Category:Labour Party (UK) donors

Category:Labour Friends of Israel

Category:British Jews