John Hall (businessman)

Sir John Hall
Born	21 March 1933 North Seaton, Ashington, Northumberland, England
Occupation	Property developer Sports-team owner
Net worth	£75 million (2008)
Children	Douglas Hall Allison Antonopoulos

Sir John Hall (born 21 March 1933) is a property developer in North East England. He is also life president and former chairman of Newcastle United football club.

The son of a miner, Hall was born and brought up in North Seaton, Ashington, Northumberland and he attended nearby Bedlington Grammar School until 1949. Before starting his own business career, he worked in the mining industry as a surveyor.

In the 1980s, Hall's company, Cameron Hall Developments, masterminded the construction of the MetroCentre shopping mall in Dunston, Gateshead. The development was not without its critics; reputedly, the script of the BBC drama Our Friends in the North was changed to remove a character resembling Sir John who took advantage of tax breaks to build a shopping centre.

Hall's company bought Woolsington Hall, northwest of Newcastle, in 1994. Hall has planned several developments of the site, including a football academy and a luxury hotel with golf course. In 2002, the hall was added to English Heritage's Heritage at Risk register and, as of 2013, is vacant and requiring full restoration.

In April 2010, Hall announced that he was suffering from inoperable prostate cancer and was about to embark on a course of intensive chemotherapy. As of February 2011, the cancer is being kept under control by medication and Hall is concentrating on his final project, a £2.5-million rose garden at his Wynyard Park estate.

On 10 February 2011, at a ceremony at the Shipley Art Gallery, Hall and his wife were given the freedom of Gateshead for their services to leisure, retail, business and sport.

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