Bruce Ritchie

Bruce Weir Ritchie (born February 1965) is a British property developer and residential landlord, and the owner of the Residential Land Group.

Bruce Ritchie
Born
Bruce Weir Ritchie

February 1965 (age 55)
NationalityBritish
EducationDulwich College
OccupationProperty developer and landlord
Net worth£200 million+ (June 2014)[1]
TitleOwner and CEO, Residential Land Group
Spouse(s)Shadi Ritchie
Children2
Parent(s)

Early life

Bruce Weir Ritchie was born in February 1965.[2] He was educated at Dulwich College where he was a contemporary of Nigel Farage.[3] He is the son of professor H. David Ritchie, a leading surgeon in the 1980s at the Royal London Hospital and Dean of the Medical College, and his wife Jennifer Prentice, a State School teacher. His older brothers are a Queen's Counsel and a scientist.[4][5]

Ritchie was brought up in Dulwich, South London.

Career

Ritchie left school after A levels and joined Harrods as a management trainee.[3] He bought his first properties whilst still working for Harrod's.[3]

In 1991, Ritchie founded Residential Land Limited and is its CEO.[3] The company grew strongly in the 1990s and 2000s. Ritchie through his Residential Land Group of 163 companies owns around 1,200 privately rented properties in prime central London and Mayfair.[6]

In the early 2000s Ritchie had a business partnership with the chef Marco Pierre White and his business partner Jimmy LaHood[7] in relation to some central London restaurants.

Residential Land is one of the largest residential property companies in London. In 2016, Ritchie sold a block of 58 flats at Garden House, 86–92 Kensington Gardens Square, London W2, which he bought for "a low price" in 2001.[8]

In the same year, Residential Land was named Asset Manager of the Year at the RESI Awards 2016, organised by Property Week.[9]

In May 2016, Ritchie was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the PROPS Awards, a UK property industry awards event.[10]

In July 2017, Ritchie was ranked 28th in Property Week’s annual Power 100 list, having been described as a ‘consummate dealmaker’.[11]

Controversy

Ritchie was one of the co-chairmen of the Presidents Club charitable trust,[12] which disbanded in 2018 after reports of sexual harassment and assault at its charity dinner.[13]

In January 2018, as a result of the media attention that the presidents Club received, the Canadian investment group, Ivanhoé Cambridge, and a major financial backer of Ritchie, announced that it would make no further investments with his company, Residential Land.[14]

Politics

Ritchie has been a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party throughout his adult life. In 2013, he and his wife Shadi donated £111,600 to the Conservative Party.[7][1] As of 2018, the two had given the Conservative Party more than £750,000 personally and through their wholly owned company, Residential Land.[15]

Personal life

Bruce Ritchie is married to Shadi[7][1] and has two teenage children.

Ritchie alongside his wife Shadi are Event Chairs for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Bruce was part of the committee that helped launch the first-ever Midsummer Party in July 2019, which raised $6m.[16]

In May 2020, after suffering from Coronavirus, Bruce donated £50,000 to Mail Force, a charity appeal established to help the National Health Service during the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Since it launched in April 2020, Mail Force has raised over £6.9m.[17]

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gollark: ++tel graph
gollark: I think unlink is available to arbitrary server staff.
gollark: Great, do so.
gollark: This would cost 0 to 20 capital, so I'd prefer not to without a particularly good reason.

References
  1. Hughes, Solomon (12 June 2014). "Property Moguls Are Giving Money to the Conservatives". vice.com. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  2. "Bruce Weir RITCHIE – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  3. "Executive Profile: Bruce Ritchie". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. "Property Week article – Rich Pickings – Residential Land". residentialland.com. 6 April 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  5. "Ritchie, Horace David (1920–1993)". Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online Lives of the Fellows Online. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  6. "Bruce Ritchie – Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Residential Land – Residential Land". residentialland.com. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  7. Goodley, Simon; Newman, Melanie; Mathiason, Nick (12 October 2014). "Tycoons mix with top Tories at fundraising ball in London". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. Limited, Reed Business Information. "Striking it Ritchie - Estates Gazette.com". estatesgazette.com. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  9. 2016-05-19T00:00:00+01:00. "Stars of residential shine at RESI Awards 2016". Property Week. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  10. "The 25th "PROPS" Lunch Raises an Amazing £380,000". Variety, the Children's Charity. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  11. Branson, Adam; Parsley, David; Hamson, Liz; Williams, Richard; Crane, Helen; Hook2017-07-06T20:00:00, Richard. "PW Power 100: 21-30". Property Week. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  12. Marriage, Madison (23 January 2018). "Men Only: Inside the charity fundraiser where hostesses are put on show". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  13. "Presidents Club to close after shocking details of sexist behaviour emerge". The Independent. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  14. Kollewe, Julia (28 January 2018). "Presidents Club scandal: property firm loses major backer". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  15. Doward, Jamie; Neate, Rupert (27 January 2018). "Presidents Club party guest backed Theresa May's Tory leader bid". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  16. "EJAF'S FIRST-EVER MIDSUMMER PARTY RAISES €5.5 MILLION". Elton John AIDS Foundation. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  17. "Daily Mail launches £4m charity to help NHS". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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