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Andrew Rosenfeld

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British businessman (1962–2015)
Andrew Ian Rosenfeld
BornAndrew 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) 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

Rosenfeld had a bachelor's degree in Estate Management from South Bank Polytechnic, and thereafter qualified as a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Charitable activities

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. He was a Vice-President of the NSPCC and was Chairman of the Full Stop Fellowship.

Political involvement

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

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

Career

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

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

The People's Operator

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.

Personal life

In 2006 he moved to Geneva to avoid paying taxes in Britain but returned to the UK in April 2011. 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.

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

He died of lung cancer, despite never having smoked.

References

  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. ^ 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. ^ 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. ^ Jim Pickard (26 September 2012). "The private donor with shifting political loyalties". Financial Times. p. 4.
  11. ^ "Labour donor jumps ship". The Sunday Times. 2 May 2010. p. 2.
  12. ^ 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. ^ 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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