Sir Lloyd Marshall Dorfman (born 25 August 1952) is a British entrepreneur and philanthropist. He founded

Travelex Travelex is a foreign exchange company founded by Lloyd Dorfman and headquartered in Peterborough. Its main businesses are foreign currency exchange, issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travellers, supplying central banks with foreign curre ...

(today part of

Finablr Finablr is a financial services holding company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, but its shares are currently suspended from trading. History The company was established by the Indian-born former billionaire B. R. Shetty in April 20 ...

), the world's largest retailer of foreign exchange. According to The ''

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday new ...

'' in 2020, Dorfman is worth £720 million.

Early life and education

Dorfman's family were Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe who came to London before

The Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was educated at St Paul's. He did not attend university.

Career

In 1976, Dorfman started his own currency exchange business from one small shop based in

Southampton Row The A4200 is a major thoroughfare in central London. It runs between the A4 at Aldwych, to the A400 Hampstead Road/Camden High Street, at Mornington Crescent tube station. Kingsway Kingsway is a major road in central London, designa ...

in central London. The company spread to ports overseas, initially in the Netherlands and Belgium. In 1986, Dorfman won Travelex a landmark contract as the first non-bank foreign exchange provider at the newly opened

Heathrow Terminal 4 Heathrow Terminal 4 is an airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the ter ...

. The company expanded into airports worldwide, opening in the USA in 1989 shortly followed by Australia in 1990. The £440m acquisition of

Thomas Cook Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was also one of the initial developers of the "package tour" including travel, accommodatio ...

's Global & Financial Services business in March 2001 made Travelex the world's largest non-bank foreign exchange business. Dorfman began to develop the presence of the company in Asia, starting with Japan and spreading to India in 2003 and China in 2004. Travelex sold its card programme management business to MasterCard for £290 million in 2011, and then its Global Business Payments to

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

for £606 million. In 2014, an agreement was reached to sell Travelex to shareholders in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

; Dorfman however still retains a 5% shareholding. Travelex pioneered sponsorship deals including Travelex Cheap Ticket Season at the National Theatre, as well as sponsoring the winning World Cup teams for Australian Cricket in 2003 and England Rugby the same year.

Current business activity

Dorfman is a minority shareholder in The Office Group, the British pioneers of co-working spaces. He was previously chairman and majority shareholder of the company from 2010 to 2017, before a £500 mn deal with Blackstone in June 2017. The Group has over 30 buildings across central London. Its clients include thousands of small businesses and start-ups as well as larger companies. In 2014, he co-founded and became chairman of Doddle, a retail business enabling people to collect, return and send their online shopping from train stations and elsewhere. Dorfman is also a lead investor and board member of the London Theatre Company. Dorfman has a number of other business interests, including shareholder and director of the London Theatre Company and Ben Ainslie Racing’s America’s Cup Challenge. He sits on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's Business Advisory Board. In April 2020, he added a £3 million investment in Snoop to his portfolio, an app created by former

Virgin Money Virgin Money is a financial services brand used by two independent brand-licensees worldwide from the Virgin Group. Virgin Money branded services are currently available in Australia and the United Kingdom. The brand formerly operated in South A ...

boss Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia.

Philanthropy

Dorfman is chairman of youth and enterprise charity the Prince’s Trust, having joined the charity's Council in 2007. He is also the chairman of Prince’s Trust International, which aims to help unemployed young people around the globe into education, training and work. In addition, he is a trustee of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, of the Royal Academy Trust and of JW3; deputy chairman of the Community Security Trust, and was a governor of St Paul's School from 2005 to 2016. He was on the board of the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

from 2007 to 2015, and the National Theatre's Cottesloe was renamed the

Dorfman Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...

in 2013 following a gift of £10 million towards the National Theatre Future redevelopment project. Dorfman joined the board of BAFTA in 2017. In 2017, following a gift from the Dorfman Foundation, the Royal Academy announced the launch of two new international architecture awards, and the restoration of the Senate Rooms in Burlington Gardens to house a new architecture space and café.

Honours and awards

In 2001 Dorfman was the winner of the Consumer Business Category in the UK "Entrepreneur of the Year" awards sponsored by

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

and ''

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''. In 2002 he received the British American

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...

's UK Entrepreneurial Award, and the

Institute of Economic Affairs The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is a right-wing pressure group and think tank registered as a UK charity Associated with the New Right, the IEA describes itself as an "educational research institute", and says that it seeks to "further ...

' Free Enterprise Award. In 2007 he received the Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK award. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2008 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Of ...

for services to business and charity. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in the

2018 Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

. In 2011, he was awarded The Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy. He is an honorary fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford and an

Honorary Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Buckingham University in 2016. He was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(CVO) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to the Prince's Trust.

Personal life

He is married with three children, and lives in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorfman, Lloyd Honorary Fellows of St Peter's College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at St Paul's School, London British Jews Living people 1952 births Place of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from London Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order