James Hull is a British dentist and entrepreneur, who owned UK's largest and one of the world's biggest private car collections.[1]
Hull opened his first dental practice in 1987 in Gwent, Wales. James Hull Associates presently has over 50 dental practices in the UK, which mainly specialise in cosmetic dentistry.[2] After private equity firm Hutton Collins bought a 40% stake in the business in 2006, valuing it at about £90m, Hull and two fellow directors stepped down from the business's board in 2008 after the group made a loss of £8.7M.[3] Irish businessman Emmet O Neill's Smiles dentistry group bought JHA in late 2012.[4]
Hull, who lives in Knightsbridge, west London, has battled cancer three times.[citation needed] He enjoys playing cricket and tennis.[2]
In May 2014, Hull emerged as the owner of one of the world's biggest private car collections, by putting the entire collection up for sale for £100M. The collection of 543 classic cars, ranging from multi-million pound Jaguars including a XKSS through to a Morris Minor, also includes: Lord Mountbatten's Mini Traveller; Winston Churchill's Austin; Mike Hailwood's 1961 Jaguar E-Type; and a Bentley formerly owned by Elton John.[1][5] In July 2014 his collection was sold to Jaguar Land Rover for an undisclosed sum.[6] Sixteen of the cars were put on show at Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire from November 2014.[7]