Barry Townsley
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Barry Stephen Townsley (born 14 October 1946) is a British financier and investor.


Early life

Barry Townsley was educated at the Hasmonean Grammar School in London. He did not attend university, but started his career as a messenger for a stockbroking firm, working his way up to being one of the youngest members of the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
.


Early career

In 1964, Townsley left school at the age of 17 and secured a job in the City of London as a messenger for the stockbroker, W Greenwell & Co. He quickly progressed to the firm's gilts department, joining the London Stock Exchange at the age of 21. In 1969, he joined Astaire & Co, another City of London stockbroking firm where he met Ronnie Jacobson with whom in 1976 he set up Jacobson Townsley, which became a very successful British stockbroking firm in the 80s.


Townsley and Co

Townsley created his own stockbroking business, Townsley & Co., which he sold to the Dutch private bank
Insinger de Beaufort Insinger Gilissen, previously known as Insinger de Beaufort, is an Anglo-Dutch private bank providing private banking, wealth management and private planning to high-net-worth individuals and some institutional clients. In 2016 it merged with Th ...
. Townsley & Co was formed in 1991 when Jacobson left frontline stockbroking. The pair remain friends to this day. Townsley built up the company throughout the 90s before selling it to a Dutch bank, Insinger de Beaufort, in 1999. Townsley remained with the company for a further three years.


Cash for peerages

Townsley was a member and supporter of the Labour Party, recorded as donating "more than £5,000" before 2001 and £6,000 since 2001. He also donated £10,000 to the London Mayoral campaign of
Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...
. Described as "colourful" by ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'', Townsley was involved in the so-called "
cash for peerages The Cash-for-Honours scandal (also known as Cash for Peerages, Loans for Lordships, Loans for Honours or Loans for Peerages) was a political scandal in the United Kingdom in 2006 and 2007 concerning the connection between political donations an ...
" scandal in March 2006, in which it was revealed that he had lent £1m to the Labour Party at the solicitation of
Lord Levy Michael Abraham Levy, Baron Levy (born 11 July 1944) is a British life peer and former chartered accountant who was chairman and CEO of a large independent group of music companies. A long-standing friend of former prime minister Tony Blair, ...
, and contributed £1.5m to a City Academy in
Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
. He was nominated for a
peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...
shortly after making the loan, but in February 2006 he withdrew from the nomination on the grounds of press intrusion into his private life.


Charitable work – health

Townsley has devoted a great deal of time to helping charities in areas of personal interest – education, health and art. He supported the St Mary's Hospital Save the Baby Fund from 1985 for thirteen year, five as chairman. The fund raised money for research projects into the treatment of factors that influence infertility, miscarriage and late pregnancy complications. Between 1999 and 2002, Townsley was a board member of the
Royal National Institute for the Blind RNIB (formally, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and previously the Royal National Institute for the Blind) is a British charity, founded in 1868, that serves people living with visual impairments. It is regarded as a leader in th ...
. From 1996 until 2002 he was a trustee of the Child Bereavement Trust. in 2014, he resigned from the role of chairman of patrons of the Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease after performing the role for eight years. He is a patron, and formerly a trustee, of Trinity Hospice, which provides end of life care to people and support for families in central and south-west London. Between 2010 and mid 2016, he served as a director of the William J Clinton Foundation Insamlingsstiftelse, a Swedish-based organisation that has worked to build hospitals in Africa and to provide anti-AIDS drugs to hard-hit regions. He also serves as vice-president and executive council member of the
Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...
, one of the world's leading multidisciplinary research institutions. In 2015, he became the President of the Weizmann Institute in the UK. He became a trustee of Alzheimers Research in the same year.


Charitable work – education

In 2000 Townsley helped found
Stockley Academy Park Academy West London is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the Yiewsley area of the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. History Stockley Academy The school opened as Stockley Academy on 1 September 2004, receiving ...
in Hillingdon, London. He is the school's principal sponsor. Stockley Academy specialises in science and technology, providing comprehensive education to over a thousand students between the ages of 11 and 18, 24% of whom do not have English as a first language and almost 39% of whom are eligible for free school meals.


Charitable work – art

Between 1998 and 2002, Townsley was a member of the International Council of the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, which holds the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day and also international modern and contemporary art. He was appointed a Trustee of the
Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
in London in 1987, and since 1993 has served as its vice-chairman. The Serpentine Gallery was opened in May 1970 in a former tea pavilion to allow the work of emerging artists, particularly from the UK and its regions, to be exhibited. He also served as a board member of the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
East Wing Development Project between 2002 and 2005.


Art sales

Townsley is a collector of art. On 14 May 2014, he sold Andy Warhol's ''Six Self Portraits, 1986'' lot 23 for $30,125,000. The works depict a suite of rainbow-hued images of the artist's gaunt face and were acquired in 1986 from the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London at Warhol's acclaimed ''Self-Portrait'' exhibition. Townsley purchased the works before the exhibition opened.


Personal life

Townsley is married to Laura Wolfson, daughter of
Leonard Wolfson, Baron Wolfson Leonard Gordon Wolfson, Baron Wolfson (11 November 1927 – 20 May 2010) was a British businessman, the former chairman of GUS, and son of GUS magnate Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet. He is the father of Janet Wolfson de Botton. He attended T ...
of the
GUS Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, Gustave, Constantine, Konstantinos, Augusten, Gustavo, Gusten, Augustus, Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Gustav, Gustafson, Ferguson, and Gussie). It can also be used as t ...
retail company. He is the father of four children and an active supporter of education, health and fine art charities. He lists his recreational interests as contemporary art and golf.


Other work

Since January 2005, he has been chairman and founding partner of Hobart Capital Markets LLP, and also a director of Caprice Holdings Ltd. Townsley has served as a trustee or board member for a large number of health and art charities, including the Child Bereavement Trust,
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
East Wing Development Project, Oxford Children's Hospital Campaign,
Royal National Institute for the Blind RNIB (formally, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and previously the Royal National Institute for the Blind) is a British charity, founded in 1868, that serves people living with visual impairments. It is regarded as a leader in th ...
,
Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
, St Mary's Hospital Save the Baby Fund, Trinity Hospice,
Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...
Foundation and Alzheimers Research. In 2005, he chaired the CSV Year of the Volunteer. He is the principal sponsor of
Stockley Academy Park Academy West London is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the Yiewsley area of the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. History Stockley Academy The school opened as Stockley Academy on 1 September 2004, receiving ...
, a school specialising in science and technology. He is the chairman of the Central Synagogue – London.


Awards

Townsley was appointed a
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in 2003 for charitable services, especially to education and the arts."BBC News 31 December 2003


See also

*
Wolfson family The Wolfson family is a British Jewish family known for its business, philanthropic, and political activities. The family owes its initial fame to Sir Isaac Wolfson, who built the Great Universal Stores retail empire and created the Wolfson Fou ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsley, Barry 1946 births Living people British businesspeople Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Labour Party (UK) donors