Noel Lister

Noel Lister (26 December 1927 – 29 January 2015) was the founder of MFI Group which became one of the United Kingdom's largest retail chains, and also the founder of UKSA (formerly the UK Sailing Academy), a youth education and maritime training charity based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Career

Noel Lister initially went into business trading in war surplus goods which he purchased at auction.[1]

He co-founded MFI Group in 1964.[2]

He was a keen sailor - he was a contender for the Admiral's Cup in Imp - and in 1987 secured the future of the UK Sailing Academy at Cowes by acquiring it from the Sports Council and transferring it, and a donation of £4 million, into a Trust Fund.[3][4] At the time he owned the yacht, Whirlwind IX,[5] and his vision was to provide maritime training for good quality people so that they could work on large yachts.[6]

He died on 29 January 2015.[7]

His children included the conservationist and philanthropist Paul Lister.[8]

References

  1. ^ MFI: The flatpack giant that fell flat on its back The Guardian, 26 November 2008
  2. ^ Ramnarayan, Abhinav (26 November 2008). "MFI: The flatpack giant that fell flat on its back". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  3. ^ UK Sailing Academy
  4. ^ Charity Commission
  5. ^ Careers in superyachting
  6. ^ Yachting's new wave Guardian, 14 August 2007
  7. ^ Noel Lister
  8. ^ Turpin, Adrian (25 June 2006). "Beware of the wolfman". Independent. London. Retrieved 11 September 2024.


Stub icon

This article about a British businessperson born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.