Peter Harris (entrepreneur)

In 1964, Harris co-founded Bourne Leisure, a holiday and leisure company which owns Haven Holidays, Butlins, and Warner Leisure Hotels, after he audited a caravan park in his former role as an accountant. His co-founder was David Allen.[2][3]

In 1977, he began to buy land at Tring in Hertfordshire, where he trained racehorses until 2004.[4] For the next seven years, the training licence was held by his son-in-law Walter Swinburn.[5] Following his retirement as a trainer, Harris remained a significant owner of the yard.[6] Swinburn relinquished his licence at the end of October 2011 for "commercial reasons".[6] The estate was put on the market by Harris shortly after Swinburn's retirement.[4]

In 2013, Harris was honoured by the British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame in 2013.[3]

Harris was born in the UK. He owns several other companies, including an aviation business and a golf course.

In 2021, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £1.534 billion.[7]

In 2021, Harris sold his majority shareholding in Bourne Leisure to private equity company, Blackstone in a deal that valued the business at £3 billion. Harris resigned as a director of the business, but remains a minority shareholder.[2][8]

It was announced in September 2022, that the Harris Family Trust had bought back Butlins in a deal estimated to be worth £300 million. However the deal did not include Butlins property assets which were sold earlier in the year to the UK’s largest pension scheme, the Universities Superannuation Scheme, also for £300 million.[9][10]