Leonard John Nike

OBE 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 ...

DL (5 July 1935 – 25 December 2016) was an English businessman, and a

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

-based leisure and hotel entrepreneur. He was best known for being the owner of the eponymous John Nike Leisuresport chain of dry ski slope complexes. Nike was the Chairman of Nike Land Securities Ltd (trading as the Nike Group of Companies), a Bracknell-based company encompassing a wide range of activities, with commercial interests spanning property, construction, a hotel, restaurants, skiing and ice skating. Nike was also a Deputy Lieutenant of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, as well as being an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of

Bracknell Forest Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority area in Berkshire, southern England. It covers the two towns of Bracknell and Sandhurst and the village of Crowthorne and also includes the areas of North Ascot, Binfield, Warfield, and Winkfield. The b ...

. He was a benefactor to many institutions, especially in academia, education and sports. With his family, he was worth £92 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2006.

Life and career

Nike originally came from

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. He moved to

in 1964 and worked for a garden centre until 1967. Following redundancy, Nike decided to find some land to build his own garden centre. He acquired of land (formerly Binfield Brickworks) in the Amen Corner area of the town in 1969 through his company Key Properties Ltd. Planning permission was eventually obtained in 1979 to build a leisuresport complex, hotel, garden centre and business park. John Nike Leisuresport Bracknell (home of the

Bracknell Bees The Berkshire Bees are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1987, un ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team) opened in 1985 for dry slope skiing and in 1987 for ice skating. The adjacent four star, 205-bedroom Coppid Beech Hotel, which has an alpine ski lodge design, opened in 1993 and is operated by his company Nike Group Hotels Ltd. Nike expanded his John Nike Leisuresport Ltd business, and came to own dry ski slopes in

, Chatham,

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a historic mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, in the county of Derbyshire, England. It lies within The National Forest (England), The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire ...

. He had plans to open a further dry ski slope in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. He also used to operate

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Ice Rink until it closed in October 2012. Nike owned Leisuresport World, a retail outlet chain specialising in the winter sports sector, with outlets at all five John Nike Leisuresport Complexes, along with an online shopping operation. In addition, he owns 94% of Techmat 2000 Ltd, which manufactures and owns the patents for the dry ski slope surfaces Skitech and Perma-snow, and the patent for the artificial grass surface Greengrass. Nike also used to own the

Thames Valley Tigers Thames Valley Tigers was a British professional basketball team that competed in the British Basketball League (BBL) until 2005, when funding was ceased and the franchise folded. Based in Bracknell, Berkshire, the team's fans set up a new team ...

basketball team until it folded in 2005. Nike had various property and construction interests. In addition to his property letting and development company Key Properties Ltd, he owned Treescape Ltd (which specialises in estate management), Nike Construction Ltd (a construction contractor), 89.9% of Nike Design Ltd (who are architects and engineers) and the Bracknell building merchant Jubilee Building Supplies, which also has an online shopping operation. He was also a shareholder in The 33 Group Ltd, which lets out commercial property in Bracknell. Nike funded The John Nike Athletics Stadium at the Bracknell Sport and Leisure Centre in 1984, The John Nike Lecture Theatre in the Agriculture Building at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in 2000, The John Nike Digital Suite at

South Hill Park South Hill Park is a English country house and its grounds, now run as an arts centre. It lies in the Birch Hill estate to the south of Bracknell town centre, in Berkshire. History Construction by Watts The original South Hill Park mansi ...

in Bracknell in 2004 and The John Nike Dance Studio at The Brakenhale School in Bracknell in 2011. He lived in

Binfield Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies north-west of Bracknell, north-east of Wokingham, and south-east of Reading at the westernmost extremity of ...

. Nike died at a hospital in Reading on 25 December 2016.

Honours

*Nike was appointed as an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(OBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours List for services to business and the community in Bracknell *Nike was commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant of

in 2005 *Nike was admitted as an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of

in 2013

References

Nike Group of Companies – 25 years onHonorary Freedom of the Borough Award

External links

Nike Group of CompaniesJohn Nike Leisuresport LtdLeisuresport WorldTechmat 2000Perma-snowThe Coppid Beech HotelNike Construction LtdNike Design LtdJubilee Building SuppliesThe John Nike Athletics StadiumThe John Nike Lecture TheatreThe John Nike Dance StudioSunday Times Rich List 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nike, John 1935 births 2016 deaths Businesspeople from Devon Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Berkshire People from Bracknell People from Binfield 20th-century English businesspeople