Javad Marandi (born February 1968) is a British businessman and property developer, with investments in commercial and residential real estate.

Early life

He was born in February 1968, in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Iran. He moved to Britain in 1979, and studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He then qualified as a UK chartered accountant, at Coopers & Lybrand (now part of

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

). In the 1990s, he worked as a business development manager for the

Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

in Central Asia, and the area manager for emerging markets at Phillip Morris international, before starting his own businesses in tobacco distribution, advertising and telecommunications, eventually holding the franchise agreement for McDonalds in Azerbaijan.

Investments

Property

Marandi has invested in numerous luxury establishments within the hospitality sector, including hotels such as Soho Farmhouse,

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Indu ...

group's country hotel and club in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England, Chais Monnet, a 92-room luxury hotel, restaurant and retail development in Cognac, France,

Sofitel Sofitel Hotels & Resorts are a French hotel chain of luxury hotels based in Paris, France, and owned by Accor since 1980. Founded in 1964 in France, Sofitel quickly developed worldwide to reach more than 200 properties. In 2008, Sofitel became a ...

Brussels, and CenterParc in Moselle, France. He has also invested in restaurants such as Shirvan,

Michelin starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

-chef Akrame Benallal's high-end restaurant on Place d'Alma, in central Paris. Marandi is both an investor and developer in the UK property market.

Retail

In 2014, Marandi took a majority stake in Wed2B, a UK mid-market wedding apparel retailer, focused on regional UK towns and cities. Since his involvement in the business, the company has expanded from three to over 40 stores. Wed2B ranked in the FT1000 in both 2019 and 2020, and placed in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 in both 2017 and 2018” It ranks Britain's fastest-growing privately held companies by sales growth over the preceding 3 years. In March 2020, the Marandi family acquired 100% of the Conran Shop, the luxury interior design and furniture retailer founded by

Sir Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran ...

in 1973

Logistics

Marandi held a controlling stake in Roth Gerueste, a Swiss market scaffolding and hi-tech building materials manufacturer up until early 2021.

Philanthropy

The Marandi Foundation supports children's health and education; and cultural history and art. Marandi is also chairman of the advisory board of The Watercolour World, a charity working to provide online public access to thousands of documentary watercolours from all over the world. The goal of the charity is to collate a unique visual history of the world. The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and the

Duchess of Cornwall Duchess of Cornwall is a courtesy title held by the wife of the eldest son and heir of the British monarch. The current title-holder is Catherine, wife of William, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Duchesses of Cornwall Until her husband' ...

are joint patrons of the Watercolour World, which is chaired by Fred Hohler. In March 2021, Marandi was appointed co-chair to the Growth Board of homelessness charity Centrepoint. In 2021, The Marandi Foundation partnered with the Conran Shop on the New Designer of the Future Award, which supports creative talent denoting an accolade and a £40,000 in investment money to further develop the winner's ideas.

Personal life

Marandi owns a home in

Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia ...

in London's

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

worth about £22.5 million, and is one of Azerbaijan's richest men. He has "two private jets and a passion for vintage wine". He is a donor to the

Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. ...

. During the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...

campaign, he donated £250,000 to the party. His wife Narmina is the daughter of Ali Alizadeh, an oncologist in Baku, Azerbaijan. Javad and Narmina are investors in

Anya Hindmarch Anya Susannah Hindmarch, (; born 1968) is an English fashion accessories designer who founded an eponymous company. Career Hindmarch was born into an entrepreneurial family and attended New Hall School, an independent school in Chelmsford, E ...

and

Emilia Wickstead Emilia Wickstead (born June 1983) is a New Zealand-born fashion designer based in London, England. In 2014 she won the Red Carpet Designer of the Year Award at the Elle Style Awards, and her clients include Samantha Cameron, and the Princess of W ...

, the London-based fashion houses. Narmina is a co-chair of the British Fashion Council Foundation as well as a patron and board member of the

BFC Fashion Trust The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

and co-head of the Cultural and Social Committee of the

Serpentine Galleries The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...

. Marandi was appointed

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) 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 business and philanthropy.

External links

WED2B website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marandi, Javad 1968 births British businesspeople Living people People from Tehran Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) donors