Barrie John Wells is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

financial services Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and

businessperson A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

, who has set up and sold two major insurance-related businesses in his career. In 2008, so inspired by the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Wells donated £2 million to a sports athletics fund to sponsor future British athletes.

Biography

The grandson of former World

Pole Vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

record holder Ernest Latimer Stones, Wells was born and raised in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby. Wells set up direct home and motor insurance operation Prospero Direct, which after its sale became Axa Direct. He then setup Premierline Direct, the UK's first direct commercial insurance operation which he founded with his business partner, Philippa Rothwell; this was then sold to

Allianz Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...

in 2006. Wells was also a non-executive director of Marks & Spencer Money for ten years. A keen amateur 400m runner, Wells has travelled to every Olympic Games since 1972. He has had a box at

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

ground since 2010, which he donates for the use of seriously ill and disabled children. Wells was made an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration by Edge Hill University in 2014 and is also an Honorary Teaching Fellow at Lancaster University. He is a Patron of Alder Hey Children's Charity. In 2016 Wells was awarded the Points of Light accolade by the Prime Minister in recognition of his exceptional philanthropic work. Wells currently actively manages a portfolio of private equity and property investments alongside his role as Chairman and sole funder of th
Barrie Wells Trust.

Barrie Wells Trust

After being inspired by a visit to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wells set up the Wells Sports Foundation, which was rebranded in 2015 as th
Barrie Wells Trust.
Wells personally funded 18 athletes in the buildup to the 2012 Olympics. He helped to make a real difference to their preparations for international sporting competitions, and experienced being part of each of the athletes' individual journeys. The first athlete sponsored was Liverpool

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

Katarina Johnson-Thompson Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson (born 9 January 1993) is an English athlete primarily known as an elite multi-eventer, both as a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. She has been World Champion in both disciplines, and a double Commonwealth G ...

. Wells also created 'Athletes4Schools,' which ran from 2009 up until the London 2012 Olympics, inspiring over 35,000 children. This initiative involved many of the 18 elite athletes personally funded by Wells, visiting schools in various parts of the UK to deliver free, fun and educational workshops. The charity also supported sports clubs and schools with grants of up to £2,000 to fund initiatives that increased participation in sport. This also ended in 2012. In 2010 Wells launched his Box4Kids initiative. Box4Kids provides once in a lifetime opportunities for seriously ill children to enjoy VIP days at major sporting and entertainment events across the UK from the luxury of executive boxes. Box4Kids initially started when Wells purchased a box at Liverpool Football Club and it has since been used solely for Box4Kids. This was so successful that Wells then approached individuals and organisations across the UK to ask for donations of boxes each year. Box4Kids now operates in 94 major venues across the UK, embracing 12 different sports and every entertainment arena in the country. Box4Kids is also the charity partner of the Jockey Club and Farnborough Airshow. With a network of 137 companies and connections with 93 different hospitals and hospices across the UK, Box4Kids has benefited over 8,000 seriously ill children and their family members. Box4Kids has also started to expand overseas starting with the Singapore Airshow. Wells was appointed

Member 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 o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are 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 New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to seriously ill children.

References

External links

Barrie Wells TrustPremierline Business InsuranceBox4Kids 2019 Video

Financial Times , Box4Kids
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Barrie Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Bootle English businesspeople British businesspeople in insurance Athletics in the United Kingdom English philanthropists Members of the Order of the British Empire

Biography

Barrie Wells Trust

Sponsored athletes and programmes

References

External links