Michael Shanly

Last updated
Michael Shanly
Born
Michael James Shanly

December 1945 (age 78)
High Wycombe, England

Michael James Shanly (born December 1945) is a British multimillionaire businessman. He is the founder of the Shanly Group, a housebuilder and commercial property investment firm. He was the only Briton to be "publicly identified" for failing to declare taxes on his Swiss bank account.Swiss Leaks. [1] [2]

Contents

Personal life

Michael James Shanly was born in December 1945. He was born in High Wycombe. [3] He lives at Hurley, Berkshire. [4]

Career

Shanly founded the Shanly Group, a property company headquartered in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire in 1969. [5] [6] Its commercial property subsidiary, Sorbon Estates, has invested in market towns including Amersham, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Berkhamsted and Weybridge. [7] [8] Michael Shanly is a founder member of The Partnership for the Rejuvenation of Maidenhead (PRoM) [4] a group established in 2008 with a desire to regenerate the town centre. [9] [10] As part of this, Shanly Homes has created Chapel Arches, a three phase scheme off the High Street which will provide 242 new homes across more than three acres, linking with the Maidenhead Waterways project. [11]

Overall, Shanly is the owner of nine companies. [12]

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Shanly was worth an estimated GBP£265 million in 2014. [12] As of 2015, he is worth an estimated GBP£320 million. [12] In 2012, he was found guilty of tax evasion on his mother's inheritance via a Swiss bank account. [13] He was fined GBP£469,444 for it. [13] He was the only Briton to be "publicly identified" for failing to declare taxes on his Swiss bank account prior to Swiss Leaks. [2] This money had already been donated to a children's charity in 2008. [13]

Philanthropy

In 2015, Michael Shanly was ranked 122nd in Britain's top 200 donors. [14]

In 2017, the Shanly Foundation teamed up with The Scout Association to launch a Building Futures competition to improve meeting places for Scout Groups. Offering 12 prizes ranging from £5,000-£100,000 this was the Foundation's biggest donation to date. [15] The Woodhouse Eaves Scout Group in Loughborough was announced as the main winner and was awarded £100,000 to build a new Scout hut. Michael Shanly himself is a former Scout. [16]

The Shanly Foundation has also had a long-standing partnership with The Woodland Trust since 2010. The Shanly Foundation has helped raise more than £350,000 and funded the planting of more than 20,000 trees specifically in the Heartwood Forest, Hertfordshire. [17]

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References

  1. Syal, Rajeev (1 November 2016). "HMRC investigating £1.9bn in potential tax avoidance by super-rich". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 Crace, John (4 November 2016). "The Spectator hands out more of its sad awards – where was mine?". The Guardian.
  3. "Shanly Group Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 "100 influential Berkshire and Buckinghamshire men".
  5. "About Us". The Shanly Group. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  6. "Company Overview of Shanly Homes Limited: Michael Shanly". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  7. "Offices, Moorings, Retail, Storage and Industrial units to let". www.sorbonestates.com.
  8. Grant, Pete (June 6, 2014). "Shoppers slam 'hypocritical' pop-up shop scheme". Bucks Free Press . Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  9. "Partnership for the Rejuvenation of Maidenhead". Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
  10. "PRoM delight at Town of the Year award for Maidenhead". www.sorbonestates.com.
  11. "Artist impressions show next stages of Chapel Arches development".
  12. 1 2 3 "Sunday Times Rich List". The Sunday Times. No. 56. April 26, 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 "Guilty tax dodger to pay £469,000". BBC News. 4 July 2012.
  14. "Sunday Times Giving List 2015". www.cafonline.org.
  15. "Scout groups could win £100,000 in Shanly Foundation competition backed by Bear Grylls".
  16. "Woodhouse Eaves win £100,000 to build their dream HQ".
  17. "Shanly Homes - Our partners - Partnerships - The Woodland Trust". www.woodlandtrust.org.uk.