Sir Ernest Hall
Born (1930-03-19) 19 March 1930 (age 93)[1]
Bolton, Lancashire, England
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur and musician
Known forRestoration of Dean Clough Mills
Children5

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

Early life and education

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

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

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

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

Autobiography

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

Personal life

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

References

  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.


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