JOHN CAUDWELL
@johndcaudwell
PRESS RELEASE
April 26, 2012.
CAUDWELL PROPOSAL TO MAKE £100 MILLION
FROM THIN AIR – AND GIVE IT AWAY.
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
