David Abell (businessman)

John David Abell (born 15 December 1942),[1] known as David Abell, is a British businessman and sharedealer. In the late 1960s and 1970s he was an executive at British Leyland. He was owner and chairman of Suter Plc. from 1978 to 1996, and from 1997 he has been chairman of Jourdan Plc.

For other people named David Abell, see David Abell (disambiguation).

Career

Early in his career, Abell worked for Ford (1962–65), AEI (1965–67), and First National Finance Corporation (1972–73).[2]

Leyland

Abell joined British Leyland in 1968. He was a senior executive at Leyland, including acting as treasurer and sitting on the board. He was chairman and chief executive of Prestcold, part of Leyland, and he became managing director and chief executive of Leyland Australia in July 1974 to oversee the closure of the Waterloo manufacturing plant and the end of production of the Leyland P76 and Marina cars.[3] He returned to the UK in mid-1975 to become managing director of British Leyland's Special Products Division (renamed SP Industries),[4][5][6] He was made managing director of BL Commercial Vehicles in 1978.[7] He left BL in 1981, when his interests in Suter Group's purchase of Prestcold from BL became a conflict of interest.[8]

Suter

Abell bought Suter Electrical in 1978 and was the chairman of Suter from 1981 until 1996, when it was sold to Ascot Holdings (now part of Dow).[9] The DTI investigated his sharedealings in the late 1980s; it found no wrongdoing but noted misleading statements.[10][11]

During Abell's ownership of Suter, the business acquired a number of divisions of the former SP Industries (Leyland Special Products) of which he had been managing director, including Prestcold[12] and the Lyne Printers subsidiary of the Nuffield Press.[13]

Jourdan

From May 1997 he has been the chairman of Jourdan, former makers of the Corby Trouser Press, when he replaced Keith Whitten.[14] He is close to managing director Bob Morris, who he has worked with for decades. Abell withdrew Jourdan from the Alternative Investment Market in 2009. His family owned about 30% of Jourdan in the 2000s,[15] and his family gained overall control of the company in October 2011.[16][17]

Share dealing

He briefly owned shares in Coffee Republic during 2002.[18][19] He is a director of St. Helen's Private Equity Plc.[20]

Personal life

He is the son of Leonard and Irene. He is married to Juliana, his third wife, and has four sons and a daughter from previous marriages.[2][16] He gain a BA in economics from Leeds University and has Diploma in Business Administration from the London School of Economics.[2] He is a fan and non-executive director of the Leicester Tigers rugby club,[21] and he was a director of Leicester City football club in 2002.[22] His is also a race horse owner, including Collier Hill.[23][24]

References
  1. "J David Abell, Esq". Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  2. Debrett's People Of Today 2012, ABDE, p2
  3. The Motoring Editor (18 July 1974). "New Leyland chief appointed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2012. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. "Leyland doing nicely after major surgery". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 December 1975. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  5. "Former Ford men to run Leyland". The Glasgow Herald. 7 May 1975. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  6. Gooding, Ken (1976). "The Young Persuader". Industrial Management & Data Systems. MCB UP Ltd. 76 (2): 20–3. doi:10.1108/eb056599.
  7. "Top BL post for able Abell". Birmingham Daily Post. 5 December 1978.
  8. "Abell leaves Leyland". Commercial Motor. 24 January 1981.
  9. Stevenson, Tom (25 July 1996). "Suter agrees to pounds 270m Ascot bid". The Independent. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  10. "View from City Road: Suter suffers from mark of Abell". The Independent. 22 January 1993. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  11. "David Abell's reputation under attack". The Independent. 26 April 1997. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  12. "The Searle Story". Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  13. Crossley, David (25 May 1990). "Troubled Printers Forced To Close".
  14. Halstead, Richard (18 May 1997). "Jourdan boss to collect pounds 300,000". The Independent. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  15. "Jourdan's recovery gathers pace". Growth Company. 2 March 2004. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  16. "Jourdan PLC Offer for Jourdan PLC". Dow Jones Reprints. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  17. "John David Abell acquires Jourdan PLC through a leveraged buyout". Thomson Financial Mergers & Acquisitions. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  18. Church, Emily (9 August 2002). "Hold that latte: Coffee bar intrigue swirls in London". Marketwatch.com. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  19. Davies, Graeme (13 August 2002). "Revealed! David Abell's secret share stakes". Citywire. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  20. "About Us". St. Helen's Private Equity. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  21. "David Abell – Non-Executive Director". Leicester Tigers. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  22. "JOURDAN (JDR)". Investors Chronicle. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  23. "Abell, John David". Directory of the Turf. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  24. Budden, John. "Cumbrian horse rakes in £2.3m to set British record". A Taste of Northumberland. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
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