Firoz Kassam (born 1955) is a British businessman. Born and brought up in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, of Indian descent, he came to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

at the age of 19. He owned

Oxford United F.C. Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

from 1999 to 2006, and was named the 309th wealthiest person in the UK in the '' Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' with an estimated fortune of £180 million.

Early life

Firoz Kassam was born in Tanzania, one of five children. His father had a small confectionery business, and his mother died when he was a child. They migrated to England when he was 19.

Career

Starting out with a

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shop ...

, Kassam made his fortune as a slum hotelier and in the 1980s was labelled a "merchant of misery". He bought run-down

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

hostels and hotels and was paid by local councils to fill them with homeless people and

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...

, until the tenants rebelled over the conditions in which they were being housed. In 1999, Kassam bought

for £1, also taking over its debts, estimated to be in the region of £13m. In 2000, he resumed building a 12,500-capacity stadium at Minchery Farm on the edge of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, which he called the

Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United F.C., and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam. The Kassam Stadium was built whilst Oxford United played in Di ...

. Construction of this stadium had actually been in progress since 1997, but was suspended in the early stages due to the club's financial problems. The fourth side of the stadium was left empty due to Oxford's decline in the league, as they had dropped down two divisions while the stadium was being built. The development includes a hotel, cinema, bowling alley, gym, health centre and restaurants. Oxford United played its first game there on 18 August 2001, in Division Three of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. Kassam sold the football club in 2006, but retained ownership of the stadium through his company Firoka with Oxford United (and later also

London Welsh RFC London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

) as tenants. Oxford United's old home, the Manor Ground in

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

, was sold by Kassam, first to his own holding company for £6 million, and then to developers for £12 million in 1999. The ground has since been demolished and developed into the Manor Hospital, which opened in October 2004. Kassam also owns the historic mansion and grounds of

Heythrop Park Heythrop Park is a Grade II* listed early 18th-century country house southeast of Heythrop in Oxfordshire. It was designed by the architect Thomas Archer in the Baroque style for Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury. A fire in 1831 destroyed ...

which he purchased in 1999 for £15m. The site underwent a £50 million rebuilding programme and has been developed into a luxury hotel and spa with an 18-hole championship golf course and restored landscape gardens. In August 2005, he purchased Studley Castle in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, a hotel and conference centre formerly owned by Phoenix Venture Holdings, the consortium who owned carmaker MG Rover from 2000 until 2005. In February 2006, Kassam's Firoka company was announced as the preferred bidder for the redevelopment of

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

in London. The whole Palace would be given to Firoka on a 125-year lease for commercial uses. As it is held on a charitable trust, and Firoka is a private company, this proposal was very controversial. It was subject to agreement of the charity commission, which received 350 objections to the lease to develop a multi-use exhibition, leisure and entertainment complex. On 5 October 2007 in the High Court, Mr Justice Sullivan granted an application by a member of the conservationist Save Ally Pally group to quash the Charity Commission's Order authorizing the lease.

Net worth

In 2007, his net worth was estimated at £240 million. In the 2017 Sunday Times Rich List, his net worth was £315 million.

References

External links

"Development threat to the palace, where television was born"
(Independent article on development plans, 30 December 2006)

(Account from MP about Firoz Kassam and future of TV studios)
Ally Pally faces legal challenge
(Controversy over Kassam's proposed takeover of

.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kassam, Firoz 1955 births Living people Tanzanian Ismailis British Ismailis British people of Indian descent British people of Indo-Tanzanian descent Tanzanian emigrants to the United Kingdom Tanzanian people of Indian descent British people of Gujarati descent Khoja Ismailis British football chairmen and investors Oxford United F.C. chairmen and investors