Dean Hoyle (born 16 April 1967) is the founder and former owner of

Card Factory Card Factory plc is a retailer of greeting cards and gifts in the United Kingdom founded in Wakefield by Dean Hoyle and his wife Janet. The first store opened in 1997, and by 2020 the company had over 1,000 stores. The company also operate ...

and the chairman of

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. In 2015, Hoyle became

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and majority shareholder of British discount retailer, The Works. 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 has been published as a magazine supplement by British national ...

'' in 2020, Hoyle is worth an estimated £284 million, an increase of £1 million from the previous year.

Early life

Hoyle studied engineering at Dewsbury and Batley Technical and Art College after attending White Lee Secondary School in Heckmondwike.

Card Factory

Hoyle and his wife, Janet, founded Card Factory, a chain of greetings cards and gift stores, in 1997. By 2009, the company had 500+ shops, employing over 50,000 people. Hoyle confirmed on 9 April 2010 that the sale of the Card Factory to Venture Capitalist Charterhouse was completed the previous day. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but financial commentators put the final selling price at in excess of £350 million. Hoyle announced that he would maintain a role in the business as Non-Executive Chairman.

The Works

Hoyle became chairman of discount retailer The Works after a "sizeable cash investment" in 2015. In July 2018, it was announced that The Works, approximately a third owned by Hoyle, would have an

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

and a valuation of £100 million. Hoyle retained the largest shareholding of 15% after the flotation.

Huddersfield Town

Hoyle is a lifelong

Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football. Huddersfield Town were founded on 15 August 1908. T ...

supporter In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Historically, supporters were left to an individual's free choice and were assu ...

. He joined the board of Huddersfield Town on 10 April 2008 and took over as

, and majority

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

, of the Club on 3 June 2009. The outgoing chairman,

Ken Davy Kenneth Ernest Davy (born 1941) is an English businessman. He is the owner and former chairman of the rugby league club Huddersfield Giants and former chairman of football club Huddersfield Town. He stood for Parliament as a Conservative Part ...

, retains a minority holding. In November 2016, Hoyle was awarded the fcbusiness Championship CEO of the Year award at the Football Business Awards 2016. In 2019, Hoyle decided to sell the club to lifelong fan Phil Hodgkinson. Huddersfield Town drew 1-1 with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on his final home game as the owner. In late 2021 the now former Huddersfield Town owner, Phil Hodgkinson, saw multiple of his businesses collapse. Due to this, in 2022, Dean Hoyle was reinstated as the Chairman of Huddersfield Town A.F.C

Personal life

Hoyle is married to Janet, and they have two sons, Danny and Josh.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyle, Dean 1967 births Huddersfield Town A.F.C. English football chairmen and investors English businesspeople in retailing People from Heckmondwike Living people Businesspeople from Yorkshire