Jon Hunt
| Jon Hunt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jonathan Michael Hunt June 1953 (age 63–64) Colchester, Essex, England |
| Residence | London, England, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Millfield |
| Occupation | estate agent |
| Known for | founder of Foxtons |
| Net worth | GBP £1.186 billion (STRL April 2015) |
| Spouse(s) | Lois |
| Children | 4 |
Jonathan Michael Hunt (born June 1953), is a British billionaire property entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of UK estate agency Foxtons and is more recently known as the founder of Pavilion, the restaurant and business members club in Kensington, London.
Jonathan Michael Hunt was born in June 1953, in Colchester, Essex, into an Army family. Hunt was awarded a scholarship to Millfield boarding school (tennis, rugby and swimming). He left after O-levels to join the Army, passing basic training for the Royal Artillery, where his father had been a colonel.
After leaving the army, and following a short spell washing cars in Ottawa, Canada, Hunt returned to the UK in 1972 and spent the next eight years working as an estate agent in Woking and Guildford, Surrey.
Hunt's property career began at age 19 when he borrowed a £100 deposit to buy a one-bedroom conversion flat in Walton Road, Woking for £4,500.
In 1981 Hunt, then aged 28, founded Foxtons with school friend Anthony Pelligrinelli, who put in £30,000 to fund the business in its first year. The company took its name from a village near Hunt's Suffolk home. Hunt has since commented:
The firm's office in London's Notting Hill Gate neighbourhood distinguished itself from competing estate agents by opening a then-unusual 74 hours a week, including weekend and evening hours, rather than the conventional 40 hours worked by rival estate agents. Foxtons expanded to other London districts, each new branch offering a 0% commission in its first three months of operation to attract customers, thereafter charging higher rates than competitors.
The property crash of 1988–94 had a severe impact on the firm. In a 2010 interview, Hunt recalled:
The experience prompted Hunt to expand into lettings, relying on the additional income stream to cover operating costs during future downturns.
Other notable Foxtons initiatives from Hunt included an early web presence, initiated in 1999, and an 800-strong fleet of branded Minis driven by agents.
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