Frank Pullen
| Frank Pullen | |
|---|---|
Frank Pullen
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| Born |
8 September 1915 London, England |
| Died | 17 January 1992 |
| Occupation | Businessman: Property Developer Racehorse owner/breeder |
Francis Henry "Frank" Pullen (8 September 1915 – 17 January 1992) was an English businessperson and racehorse owner.
He was born, the youngest of four children, as Francis Henry Pullen to Arthur James and Alice Pullen (née Richards) at Catford, South London and great nephew to James Pullen. His father died while serving with the Royal Navy during World War I and Alice Pullen had to support her children during the Depression. Young Pullen found work feeding the local workhorses, earning a shilling a week ( 5 pence ), showing early entrepreneurial flair and sparking his love of horses. Pullen married aged 17 and became a chef.
Pullen enlisted in the British Army at the start of World War II and was one of the survivors of D-Day, landing at Gold Beach. Later during the conflict he helped liberate the Belgian town of Lessines. The grateful town gave him the freedom of the city and he later named three of his homes (one in Bromley,south London one in Lee, South London and one in Looe, Cornwall, where he would holiday) "Lessines" in honor of this.
After he was demobilised from the 8th army in 1948, Pullen started in business as a builder in a wartorn South London and became a member of the National House Building Council Pullen became one of South London's leading property developers, and incorporated his business in 1962, using the slogan "We Build To Please" . Pullen specialised at first renovating houses before concentrating on new builds, his first being "Karen Court", Blyth Road, Bromley, a block of three maisonettes. Other early examples of Pullen's can be seen with the bungalows of Clarence Road, Croydon. Pullen soon progressed to blocks of flats ( like Tina Court, Knollys Road, Streatham and at Ravensbourne park crescent, Catford, along with Colin Court ). Pullen moved on to housing estates, building over one hundred major developments. At Iona Court in Catford stands a type of Pullen's apartments that were purpose built for Lewisham Council. In his later buildings Pullen often employed the services of the female architect and Le Corbusier admirer Joyce Lowman. Pullen gained a reputation as a builder of luxury apartments and examples of these buildings can be found at Florida Court in Bromley, with three blocks in a low density five acre landscaped plot. At Beulah Hill Pullen built Tropicana, a ground breaking block of flats to Lowmans design, climbing up Spurgeon Road with balconies having a grand view over S.W.London. Pullen also built the Parklands apartments (with roof gardens overlooking Kelsey Park), Parkwood court, Ingleside Close, Montreux Court, Highgrove Court and Gatcombe Court in Beckenham, the last three being the innovative "Big roof" design, again by Joyce Lowman. Pullen developed extensively down Wells Park road, Sydenham and with Chevening Court built the whole of Brasted Close in Orpington, Kent . This is one of Pullen's last estates, reviving his old practice of naming his structures after Royal Houses. Pullen was a frequent visitor to Kenya where he created a racing complex in Nairobi, and embarked on an ambitious project there to build a township including schools and hospitals. Pullen went on to form Bromley Industrial Consultants Ltd, centred in Pall Mall, London, with the purpose of helping 3rd world nations develop .
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