Peter Johnson (businessman)
| Peter Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 November 1939 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Executive Chairman |
| Employer | Park Group PLC |
| Known for | Former Everton F.C. Chairman Former Tranmere Rovers Chairman |
| Home town | Birkenhead |
Peter Robert Johnson, is a Birkenhead-based businessman and football investor.
The son of a butcher, Johnson helped run a family-owned business Park Foods, a supplier of Christmas hampers in the early 1990s. During this time, Johnson was an investor in Tranmere Rovers football club, during which time they rose from the foot of the Football League to the Championship, and was chairman of Everton F.C. until 1999.
After having an estimated fortune of £150M in the early 1990s, Johnson's fortune dropped to £58M in 2004.
The son of a butcher, Johnson branched the family butchery business out into a Christmas Savings club in 1967. The Park Hamper Company was formed in 1969, and Park Foods became a weekly cash savings business.
By the early 1990s, Birkenhead based Park Foods had made Johnson one of the UK's richest people, with an estimated fortune of £150M. At its peak, Park Foods packed 1m Christmas hampers and delivered them to people who had saved up to £5 a week all year. Johnson also became chairman of Nightfreight GB when in went public on the in 1993.
In the mid-1990s Johnson branched his interests out into both football and flavoured crisps, after which Park Foods lost £6.2M in first half of 1997. By Christmas 2004, due partly to competition from supermarkets, Park packed just 75,000. Park Group's cash lending book - where loans are typically £300 - between 2003 and 2004 grew 82% to £24.6m.
In October 2004, Johnson put the group valued at around £49M up for sale, after the failure of both the flavoured crisp and door-step loan businesses. Park Group plc consists of:
Johnson was a Liverpool F.C. supporter from boyhood, and a former shareholder. In 1987, Johnson was approached by local football club Tranmere Rovers, to take over running of the club and restore stability, after American Bruce Osterman ran up large debts. Johnson took control of the then Fourth Division (fourth tier) club, and they rose to the Second Division (third tier) by 1990. In 1992, they won promotion to the second tier league winning the playoffs at Wembley.
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