Ernest Hall (businessman)

Sir Ernest Hall OBE (born 19 March 1930) is an English businessman, known for his restoration of Dean Clough Mills, Halifax; pianist, and composer.

Sir Ernest Hall
Born (1930-03-19) 19 March 1930 (age 94)[1]
Bolton, Lancashire, England
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur and musician
Known forRestoration of Dean Clough Mills
Children5

Early life and education edit

Hall was born in Bolton, Lancashire[2] in 1930.[3] He was educated at Bolton College Grammar School and the Royal College of Music.[1]

Career edit

Hall made his first fortune in textiles. He then sold real estate through the Mountleigh Group. In 1983, Hall sold his company for £40 million and then invested £20 million in the Dean Clough former carpet factory site.

In 1983, he led a consortium which purchased a disused carpet mill complex, Dean Clough Mills, and converted it into an arts, business, design and education complex.[4][5] While in his 70s, he recorded the complete piano works of Frédéric Chopin.[2]

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1986 Birthday Honours and knighted in the 1993 Birthday Honours.[1]

Show business edit

He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs on 26 April 1998,[6] and on the Radio 3 programme Private Passions on 18 September 2005.[2]

Residence edit

Hall has homes in Lanzarote and in France.[7]

Autobiography edit

His autobiography, How to Be A Failure and Succeed, was published in 2008.[8]

Personal life edit

In 1951, Hall married firstly June Annable (died 1994), and had two sons and two daughters. He married secondly in 1975 Sarah Wellby, with whom he has a third son.[1]

In 2009, he revealed that he was in a romantic relationship with his long-time friend, the cookery writer Prue Leith.[9]

Bibliography edit

  • —— (2008). How to Be A Failure and Succeed. Book Guild Publishing. ISBN 978-1846241635.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 1732. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. ^ a b c "Private Passions - Sir Ernest Hall". BBC Online. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  3. ^ Fox, Imogen (27 July 2008). "The close-up Sir Ernest Hall, entrepreneur and musician". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Age is no barrier to achievement says Sir Ernest Hall". Halifax Courier. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Dean Clough". Dean Clough. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Sir Ernest Hall". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  7. ^ Fox, Imogen (28 July 2008). "The close-up: Sir Ernest Hall, entrepreneur and musician". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  8. ^ Hall, Ernest (2008). How to Be A Failure and Succeed. Book Guild Publishing. ISBN 978-1846241635.
  9. ^ "How I fell for Prue at the age of 78: Dean Clough's Sir Ernest Hall opens his heart". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 20 August 2014.