CAUDWELL PROPOSAL TO MAKE £100 MILLION FROM THIN AIR – AND GIVE IT AWAY.

JOHN CAUDWELL

@johndcaudwell

PRESS RELEASE

April 26, 2012.

CAUDWELL PROPOSAL TO MAKE £100 MILLION FROM THIN AIR – AND GIVE IT AWAY.

Photos: http://bit.ly/HzcyaS

Philanthropist John Caudwell, who is believed to be the country’s highest personal tax payer, is proposing to turn thin air above the UK’s most expensive car park into up to £100 million – and then give the money to charity.

Caudwell, who acquired the property in Audley Square, Mayfair, London, is to regenerate the building and create super-prime residences for the world’s elite.

But, crucially, in the process, he proposes to generate substantial funds to help London’s vulnerable by adding two more floors, with all profits generated from the sale of the additional apartments going to charity.

He already has planning permission to develop the site to the maximum permitted within planning guidelines – but says if local government planning committees across the country allowed projects to be expanded beyond the original approved plan, for charitable purposes, it could generate billions of pounds for community projects.

He is proposing the introduction of special local authority planning sub-committees, formed of experts in design, architecture and construction, as well as council planners, charities and representatives of the business community. These special committees will be given the authority and discretion to make intelligent and informed decisions to enable development projects to be expanded beyond the original approved plan, with profits from the expansion going to charity.

Caudwell’s expanded plans for Audley Square would set the precedent. The profits from the additional two floors in the development would go into his Thin Air Foundation www.thinairfoundation.com (website live from April 26, 2012), set up to help tackle social deprivation issues in London.

“The incredibly exciting thing about the idea of adding two floors to this project is that we create a massive amount of financial support for London’s underprivileged - and potentially provide a prototype for future developers and investors,” said John Caudwell.

“Many philanthropists could well be taxed out of giving, but I actually want to give more. ‘Creative philanthropy’ could become a crucial element of charitable support in challenging economic times.

“Imagine if the planners were to be allowed to flex their rules - but only where the architectural merits were undoubted, and, equally specifically, only where all of the incremental profit went to charitable causes; in London alone the extra revenue for good causes could be hundreds of millions of pounds a year. The lives of thousands of vulnerable people would be transformed.

“I’ve spoken with Boris Johnson about this plan, and how he can use his position and charisma to help deliver it - assuming he wins the London mayoral election, of course. But I would have thought any London Mayor would recognise the merits of this proposal.

“In the case of my Audley Square development, it would be a straightforward and highly cost-efficient process to add two floors to the structure, and, in the process, create beautiful apartments which could generate as much as £100 million in profit, all of which would go into a foundation designed to tackle social deprivation,” said Caudwell.

“The enhanced plans are ready to be run past the appropriate authorities; sustainability is high on the design agenda, as is the ‘grand Mayfair’ architectural look that we seek to create.

“I must stress I would make nothing from this additional floor space – I already have planning permission for the building, but I’m so passionate about the concept and how it could transform London’s ability to deal with deprivation that I’m delaying the start of construction to try to make the ‘thin-air’ idea work.

“It’s difficult to establish accurate figures, but research seems to indicate that, for instance, the base cost to the state of a homeless person is around £30,000 a year, but can easily double or treble if they’re involved in crime. But helping them off the street and into care or accommodation - and out of trouble - costs the state around £25,000 a year.”

Ends

Notes

John Caudwell, who made his fortune by building and selling his mobile phone business for £1.5 billion, has in recent years turned his efforts towards charity and philanthropic work, ploughing millions of pounds into causes as wide-ranging as the soon-to-be-unveiled Bomber Command Memorial, the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, the Elton John Aids Foundation and his own children’s charity, Caudwell Children @caudwellkids, amongst others.

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

+44(0)7788 978800

www.thinairfoundation.com

www.caudwell.com

@johndcaudwell

@caudwellkids