Bob Edmiston
| Lord Edmiston | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Norman Edmiston 6 October 1946 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | motor trade entrepreneur |
| Known for | property owner |
| Net worth | £1.02 billion(May 2017) |
Robert Norman Edmiston, Baron Edmiston (born 6 October 1946) is a British billionaire motor trade entrepreneur based in the West Midlands who has established a number of religious and educational charities, including Christian Vision.
Bob Edmiston became a millionaire through his companies IM Group, a car importer, and IM Properties. In 1974 he was finance director at sports car manufacturer Jensen Motors, and used a £6,000 redundancy payout when the company went bankrupt to set up International Motors, which acquired the UK franchise for Subaru and Isuzu cars. He later branched out into property and vehicle finance. In the Sunday Times Rich List 2013 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, he was placed 209th with an estimated fortune of £440 million. IM Group is now managed by his son, Andrew Edmiston.
Edmiston is an Evangelical Christian and has made large donations to charities which he has established.
In 1988 he founded Christian Vision, a large international evangelical charity, based in Coleshill, Warwickshire.
Through two other charities, Edmiston is the sponsor of three secondary schools within the English academy programme (Grace Academy (Coventry),Grace Academy (Solihull)) and Grace Academy Darlaston: he is chair of the governors for all three academies. Edminston paid £2m to sponsor each academy.
The academies follow a Christian ethos. On 20 August 2013, the academies were among schools named by The Independent newspaper and the British Humanist Association as adopting policies similar in wording to the repealed anti-gay legislation Section 28.
In 2007 it was announced that Grace academy, Solihull had awarded contracts worth £281,000 over 2 years to the IM Group for payroll and other "management services" without going to competitive tender. The school also donated £53,000 over a 2-year period to Christian Vision. In response, Edmiston claimed that the school had no capability to pay wages and that he had transferred a member of Christian Vision to manage the project at cost price. The DfES refused to say why it had waived its "strict" rules requiring 3 competitive tenders but Sarah Teather, the then Liberal Democrats education spokesperson, said that the absence of tendering was worrying and "Lack of proper regulation will leave loopholes for the unscrupulous."
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