Steve Morgan (businessman)

Early life

Steve Morgan was born in Garston, Liverpool. He was educated at Colwyn High School and Liverpool Polytechnic, where he completed a two-year diploma course.

Redrow plc

A civil engineer by profession, Morgan entered the business world in 1974 when he borrowed £5,000 from his father to buy his then employers, Wellington Civil Engineering, which was on the verge of going out of business. He developed this company into the builder Redrow plc. Under his chairmanship, Redrow was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, ultimately becoming a FTSE 250 Company.

The 1990s saw Morgan also invest in hotels, developing St David's Park Hotel in North Wales and Carden Park in Cheshire, eventually merging his interests into the De Vere Group.

In November 2000, after 26 years, Morgan stepped down as Redrow chairman, although his company, Bridgemere, remained one of its largest shareholders. In 2001 Morgan founded Brownfield specialist company Harrow Estates plc. In March 2009, however, Morgan rejoined the Redrow board as chairman after having rebuilt his stake in the company, in order to address the significant losses suffered by Redrow during the financial crisis. In a 2012 interview with the BBC’s Economist Correspondent, Sarah Dickens, Morgan discussed his reasons for returning to Redrow, which by the time of the interview, had turned the inherited £140 million loss into a £43 million pre-tax profit.

In February 2017, following Redrow’s reveal of a 35% increase in pre-tax profits to £140 million, during a Radio 4 interview, Morgan defended the construction industry. He called the government’s housing White Paper “disappointing”, and criticised its proposals for forcing house builders to surrender land if construction had not started within two years, which would dissuade small house builders. Morgan also announced in February 2017 when the firm acquired Derby house builder Radleigh Homes, which will form the basis of a new regional division, Redrow East Midlands, that Redrow expected to deliver a turnover of £1.9 billion by 2019, and an operating margin of 19.5%.. In September 2017 the shares in Redrow rose 4.3% after the housebuilder reported record results for the fourth year in a row - the company announced that pre-tax profits for the year to 30 June jumped 26% to £315m, with revenues up 20% at £1.66bn..

In September 2017, it was announced that Morgan would "ease back" to a non-executive chairman role with Redrow

Wolverhampton Wanderers

A shareholder at Liverpool F.C., Morgan attempted several times to take full control, most notably when he made an offer in 2004 which valued the club at £61m. This was rejected, as the board felt that the offer undervalued the club. When Liverpool eventually was sold to Tom Hicks and George Gillett in 2007, the reported value was in excess of £170m.

In 2007 an opportunity arose to purchase Wolverhampton Wanderers, a club which he had previously regarded as his "second club". In a unique deal Morgan agreed to buy the Club from Sir Jack Hayward for a token fee of £10 on condition he invested £30 million in the Midlands club. The takeover was formally completed on 9 August 2007 when Morgan became Chairman of the club. On handover, Sir Jack Hayward stated that Morgan "had had a heart transplant – from Liverpool to Wolverhampton." In May 2009 Wolves were promoted, as champions, from the Championship to the Premier League, but were relegated back to the Championship in May 2012 after three seasons in the Premier League. After suffering a second successive relegation in the 2012–13 season, Wolves played in League One in the 2013–14 season and finished as champions with a record 103 points, returning to the Championship.

In October 2013 he was criticised for inviting former Merseyside Chief Constable Norman Bettison as his guest in the directors' box at a Wolves away match. Bettison is a controversial figure in Merseyside for his role in connection with the Hillsborough football disaster in 1989. Wolves responded on its official Twitter account, saying "The story is that Sir Norman Bettison attended the Bradford City game in the same way he has attended many Wolves games in the past. Steve Morgan and Sir Norman Bettison have known each other for many years. Everyone connected with the club has the utmost sympathy and respect for the victims of Hillsborough and their families."

On 28 September 2015, Morgan stepped down from the board and announced the club was for sale.

On 21 July 2016, it was confirmed that the Chinese company Fosun International had bought the parent company of the club: "W.W. (1990) Limited" from Steve and Ross James Morgan (25% share capital in total) and his company Bridgemere UK plc (75% share capital) for an estimated £30 million..

Honours and philanthropy

In 1992, Morgan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the construction industry. He is a fellow of the Institute of Builders, and holds honorary fellowships and doctorates at Cardiff University, Liverpool John Moores University, Glyndŵr University., Wolverhampton University, and University of Chester.

During Morgan's time as owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Morgan converted the Club’s community department into an official charity – Wolves Community Trust (WCT). Via WCT’s donations arm – Wolves Aid – Morgan donated over £1million to charities and community groups in the local area, making WCT/Wolves Aid the one of the largest charities of its type in football.

In 2001 Morgan founded The Steve Morgan Foundation, to which he has personally committed over £35m, providing support to more than 450 charities to date and funding ongoing awards. The remit area covers North Wales, Merseyside,West Cheshire and North Shropshire; support is focused on making a difference to those organisations and charities which work to improve life chances for children, families, disadvantaged, elderly, disabled and socially isolated in this region. Morgan donated a wheelchair-accessible van under the Foundation’s Smiley Bus scheme to the charity health and disability paper, All Together NOW! The Foundation continues to donate Smiley Buses to the charity and to various other organisations under the scheme. In February 2017, Morgan donated an estimated £207 million in shares to the Foundation, which is believed to be one of the largest public donations ever in the UK.

Morgan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for philanthropic services.

In September 2017 Morgan donated $1m to the Barbuda Relief Fund which was set up to support relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Personal life

Morgan and his first wife Pamela divorced in 2000. Pamela Morgan Bell was included in the Sunday Times Rich List for 2007 and 2008, with a net worth of £110 million. They have two children together. Morgan has a son with Janet Hill, with whom he had a two-year affair, from 1998 to 2000.

In 2002, he married Fiona Boustead, known as "Didi" or "Didy", an antiques worker from Chester, 15 years younger than him. They have two children together.

He is now married to businesswoman Sally Morgan (nee Toumi).

Morgan owns a second home on the Caribbean island of Antigua. The 2016 Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £880 million.

A fanatical football fan, Morgan was a lifelong Liverpool F.C. supporter, having followed the club from the days of Bill Shankly.