Charles William Holroyd CBE DL (born 7 February 1953) is a British

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Career

Holroyd joined

Forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" *Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set *Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs *Forte (vocal gro ...

's group supply division where he stayed for eight years, setting up and running their national distribution network. In 1982, he left to set up his own foodservice distribution company, Holroyd Meek. By 1994, the company had a turnover of £190m serving over 7,000 restaurants across the UK. In 1995, Booker acquired the company and Holroyd started his own investment company. Between 1995 and 2015, he invested in over 25 start-up and second-stage companies.

Philanthropy

In 2008, Holroyd set up OnSide Youth Zones, a charity providing safe, state-of-the-art facilities for young people in their leisure time. As of 2016 eight Youth Zones were complete with fourteen in process. Over 30,000 young people were regular users of the Youth Zones. In 2013, he was appointed

CBE 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 ...

for his charitable works. Bill and Julie Holroyd set up The Holroyd Foundation in 2014. The foundation seeks to promote health, welfare, education and opportunity with particular emphasis on young people. The foundation makes donations to charities associated with young people, cancer associated charities and many local charities in Cheshire. In 2015, he had the privilege of fulfilling the role of the

High Sheriff of Cheshire This is a list of Sheriffs (and after 1 April 1974, High Sheriffs) of Cheshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

and the honour of a Beacon Fellowship for Philanthropy. He was Chairman of

Bolton Lads and Girls Club Bolton Lads and Girls Club is a youth club and registered charity based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is one of the largest youth clubs in the United Kingdom, with a membership of over 4,000 young people. Based in Bolton's town centre, the ...

and Committee Member of the

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

Awards

*Deputy Lieutenant since 2008 *CBE 2013 * High Sheriff of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

2015 *Beacon Fellowship Award for Philanthropy 2015

Personal life

Bill is married to Julie. They live in Cheshire with their children, Olivia and Harrison. Bill has two older children Laura and Nicholas and two grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holroyd, Bill Living people British investors 1953 births British philanthropists Deputy Lieutenants of Cheshire