Stelio Haralambos Stefanou OBE DL (born 6 November 1952) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

businessman and philanthropist, who was born in Egypt to Cypriot parents. He founded a public services and building maintenance company, Accord, which grew to employ 4000 people. He sold Accord for £147 million in 2007. He then founded two charities: the Stefanou Foundation in England, and the Stefanou Foundation Cyprus. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, and he was High Sheriff in 2016/17 having been inaugurated on 2 April 2016 at County Hall, Hertford According to the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', his net worth in 2015 was £140 million.

Early life and business career

Stefanou was born in Egypt, the son of a shopkeeper who had emigrated from Cyprus at age 14. The whole family left Egypt for the UK in 1959, following the political turmoil after the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

, which lost his family their business. His parents reestablished themselves by starting a grocery shop in Battersea Stefanou arrived in the UK at age 6. He studied chemistry at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, graduating with a BSc. He started his industrial career working for

Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey is a British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early years ...

(1974-1977) and

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

(1977-1980), before moving to John Doyle Construction in 1980. Stefanou's brother Stef Stefanou also worked at John Doyle Group, and by 1999 Stef was the Chairman and Stelio was the Chief Executive. In 1999 they instigated a de-merger which split the company into two. Stef Stefanou retained John Doyle as the construction company, while Stelio Stefanou founded Accord as a separate company to run the longer-term public services and infrastructure maintenance contracts. Stefanou sold Accord to

Enterprise plc Enterprise plc was a support services company originally based in Farington in Lancashire, England. Its core markets were local authorities and utility sectors. It has recently been integrated into Ferrovial's UK company, Amey plc. History Th ...

in 2007.

Public service

After selling Accord, Stefanou changed from running businesses to running charities. In 2008 he established the Stefanou Foundation to protect the interests of vulnerable people, especially the very young and the very old, and to support the commercial development of scientific ideas into viable businesses. He serves as its chairman. In 2013, he established the Stefanou Foundation Cyprus which aims to break new ground in addressing that country's social and economic challenges following the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

, and he serves as its chairman. In April 2015, he launched the "Healthy Relationships: Healthy Baby" (HRHB) programme for families suffering domestic abuse that are expecting babies. Parents join this program during pregnancy and they are supported to bring an end to domestic abuse in order to nurture their baby’s early development. The Foundation is initially running two prototype projects, in Hertfordshire and in Westminster. The police and crime commissioner for Hertfordshire, David Lloyd, visited the centre and he said he believes it can "reduce the number of people suffering from abuse and make society better and safer". Stefanou personally funds the development and initial delivery of the HRHB programme as part of his overall funding to the Stefanou Foundation of £1.5M a year. Stefanou is a patron of Hertfordshire Action on Disability, and he is the Chairman of Trustees of the WAVE Trust, a charity that is dedicated to reducing interpersonal violence, child neglect and maltreatment. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of

, initially appointed in January 2011, and is the current High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, having taken up his post for the year 2016/2017. Stefanou is vice-chairman of the UK-Cyprus Enterprise Council, which was established in 2013 to promote investment in Cyprus and bilateral trade with the UK.

Honours

Stefanou was awarded an "

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 2004 for services to business. He has held roles in the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...

including Chairman of the Eastern Regional Council (1995-1997) and Chairman of their Local Government Panel (1997-2007). He is a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

(1994). He was awarded the honorary degrees of Hon DLitt by the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

in 2007 and Hon LLD by the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

in 2013.

Personal life

In 2008, Stefanou married Susie Omer. She is also a Trustee of the Stefanou Foundation. Stefanou and his previous wife Rosemary Gordon were married for 22 years before separating in 1996; they divorced in 2003.

References

External links

Stefanou Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanou, Stelio Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Hertfordshire 1953 births