William Ernest Archer is a British businessman.

Career

In 1987 Archer and Greg Stanley of Fads DIY acquired Choice DIY, a small

do it yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

(DIY) company with six stores in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

and the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for £900,000. In 1988 the Focus DIY company was bought by Archer and all stores were re-branded Focus DIY. With the help of

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

the chain grew to 72 stores in the United Kingdom. By 2002 the chain had grown to over 450 stores following several buyouts including the

Wickes Wickes is a home improvement retailer and garden centre, based in the United Kingdom with more than 230 stores throughout the country. Its main business is the sale of supplies and materials, for homeowners and the building trade. It is listed ...

DIY chain. Archer and his partners received over £650 million from the sale of

in 2005. When his core Focus business was in financial difficulty, US

firm Cerberus Capital Management bought Focus for £1 in June 2007. Cerberus, which also took on debts of £180m, brought in Bill Grimsey, former chief executive of Wickes. "When we came in, staff morale had been wiped out and the shelves had no stock because suppliers thought it was going bust. The business was still selling eight-year-old kitchens because there had been no investment," said Grimsey.

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Archer was also involved in the controversial 1997 sale of the Goldstone Ground in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, the then-home of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., so the land could be used as a retail park. The club had been based there for over ninety years until the board of directors decided to sell the stadium. The sale, implemented by Archer as majority shareholder and his chief executive

David Bellotti David Frank Bellotti (13 August 1943 – 10 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for the Eastbourne constituency from 1990 to 1992. He was the first Liberal Democrat politician to win a parliam ...

, provoked widespread protests against the board. The club itself received minimal payment from this sale, and was left without a ground to play in. He was also said to have destroyed Brighton and Hove Albion for a period.

References

British businesspeople Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-business-bio-stub