of the most influential people in Kensington, Chelsea and Mayfair ...

June 2012 theresident.co.uk
Vintage chic at
The Royal Hospital
25
of the most infl uential
people in Kensington,
Chelsea and Mayfair

25local life
of the most influential
people from west London
Lady Sybilla Hart Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs
Lady Sybilla Hart and
Lady Natasha Rufus
Isaacs reveal their
25 most influential
west Londoners
25 INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE 25A INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE

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4. 5.
1. Paul Cowley
Paul Cowley was expelled from school
only to be kicked out of his home at
the age of 15. Homeless and then in
prison, Cowley managed to turn his
life around joining the army at the age
of 21. Fifteen years later he went on
to a career in personal training before
becoming a vicar. In 2010 Cowley
established the William Wilberforce
Trust based at St Augustine’s church
at Queen’s Gate, a charity that works
to overcome poverty and injustice
by helping those who are in debt,
homeless, ex-offenders, single parents
or caught up in domestic servitude.
Courses are run for people with
36 The Resident | June 2012
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various addictions as well as those
dealing with depression.
2. Katie Piper
Katie Piper is a former model and
television presenter whose career
plans were thrown into disarray when
she had sulphuric acid thrown in
her face four years ago. The attack,
which blinded Piper in one eye,
was arranged by her ex-boyfriend
and carried out by an accomplice.
Piper was treated in Chelsea and
Westminster Hospital, where the
surgeons rebuilt her skin with a skin
graft. It was the fi rst of its kind to be
completed in a single operation. The
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Channel 4 documentary Katie: My
Beautiful Face was fi rst aired in 2009 as
part of the Cutting Edge series. She has
recently released an autobiography
and primarily works for her charitable
organisation, The Katie Piper
Foundation.
3. Crispin Odey
Crispin Odey is a Knightsbridgebased
hedge fund manager and
owner of Odey Asset Management.
In 2008 Odey correctly predicted the
impending credit crunch and Bear
Stearns’ subsequent bankruptcy. This
clever move earned him a cool £28
million. The Times selected him as

a ‘Business Big Shot’ the same year.
Odey set up his own business in
1991 after quitting Barings Bank and
allegedly made huge losses three
years later when the Federal Reserve
lifted interest rates. No stranger to
controversy, in May 2010 his company
collaborated with Geneva’s Bruellan
Wealth Management forming Odey
Bruellan.
4. Dr Primavesi
Any parent should have Dr Richard
Primavesi’s number on speed dial. His
practice Healthy Child private clinic
is based on Harley Street. Richard
Primavesi has been a consultant
paediatrician for over 15 years and
prior to that worked for the NHS.
He wins the award for the calmest,
most approachable paediatrician in
London. You can always count on Dr
Primavesi for the best independent
advice on children’s health and is one
doctor who won’t send you away with
a bottle of Calpol and a shrug of the
shoulder.
5. Oscar Humphries
Tall, handsome and very funny, Oscar
arrived in the UK whilst still a boy. Son
of Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna
Everage), he successfully negotiated
something of a wild youth, writing
for Vogue, The Sunday Times, The
Daily Telegraph and in 2007 became
a contributing editor of The Spectator.
In 2008, he was made launch editor
of The Spectator Australia and in 2010
became one of London’s foremost
art advisor/dealers and editor of the
pedigree art magazine Apollo. The
art market is perhaps the largest
unregulated business area left – and
nothing happens in it without Chelsea
resident Humphries knowing.
6. Julia Immonen
Julia Immonen hails from the world of
sport and media and lives in Chelsea.
As an avid sports fan and athlete, she
found her dream job at Sky Sports
News. Julia became passionate about
the injustice of human trafficking three
years ago and founded Sport Against
Trafficking, which uses the positive
power of community and sport to raise
funds and awareness for the cause.
In December 2011, Julia led the Row
For Freedom team in the Talisker
Whisky Atlantic Challenge known as
the world’s toughest rowing race. The
gruelling campaign saw Julia gain two
world records.
7. Matt Hermer
Matt Hermer is the son of Julius
Hermer, a lawyer and former
Lord Mayor of Cardiff. In 1998 the
handsome Matt bought his local bar
on Walton Street and transformed it
into the uber trendy Eclipse bar. In
2002, Ignite opened Boujis, the group’s
flagship boutique nightclub. Matt’s
next venture was to open Bumpkin
restaurants. Ignite has gone on to
branch out abroad seeing the first
Eclipse in Spain at the W Barcelona
Hotel. Not content with one nightclub,
Hermer launched Wyld, another
VIP nightclub. Matt was named as
‘Restaurateur of the Year’ in 2008 by
Tatler and has featured in the Evening
Standard’s ‘1000 London’s Most
Influential People’ list every year
since 2008.
8. Alice Beaumont
Alice Beaumont is an Events Manager
at Starlight Children’s Foundation, the
organisation that grants wishes of a
lifetime to seriously and terminally ill
children and was behind the Boodles
Boxing Ball success in 2011 and
the Starlight Shooting Challenge at
Highclere Castle.
Alice is also the co-founder of luxury
scented candles Feu de Beaumont,
launching in July this year. In 2010
She completed the Sultan Marathon
des Sables, a 150 mile race across the
Sahara desert and recently took part in
an otherwise all male cycle race from
London in Paris, raising over £60,000
for her charity.
9. Carlo Proetti, Maitre d’ of
C London
Carlo Proietti was born in 1977 in
Latina, Italy from a family of wellknown
restaurateurs. At the age of
19 he moved to New York where he
worked for his uncle who owned a
small restaurant chain in Manhattan
and quickly rose to the role of
manager. The following year
he was hired to assist in the
opening of high profile
French restaurant, Chazal,
in Union Square Manhattan.
Aged just 26, he was spotted by
Giuseppe Cipriani and offered a
job as manager in Downtown New
York. Soon after in 2005 he was sent to
London to help with the Opening of C
London where he became the General
Manager. He is currently overseeing
the launch of Cipriani Monte Carlo
and is also General Manager of
Downtown Mayfair. From real royalty
to Hollywood royalty, Carlo has
ensured a perfect evening for all.
10. The Addington brothers
Ed and Raleigh Addington are two
brothers who have served valiantly
in our Armed Forces. Ed, a serving
Captain in the Rifles was seriously
injured in Helmand Province when
a bomb blast exploded underneath
his vehicle in 2009. He suffered
multiple injuries and has had some 20
operations on the road to recovery.
Raleigh gave up his part on Lord
Sugar’s The Apprentice on hearing of
his brother’s accident. Leaving in a
taxi from the show, Raleigh headed
straight to the intensive care unit to
visit his brother. He went on to set up
a charity supporting servicemen and
their families called Tickets for Troops.
Ed and Raleigh are now involved in
supporting a charity called ‘Just Rifles.’
The charity delivers on supporting
injured soldiers and their families
going through rehab and support.
11. Harry and Ed Lawson Johnston
Blond twin brothers Harry and Edward
co-founded the LJ Group in 2009, a
merchant bank and multi family office
with over $6bn of assets, offices in
London, Miami, Geneva, Lisbon and
Hong Kong. Previously Harry was
Managing Director of Guggenheim
Partners and Edward MD of Cornhill
Fund Management LLP. Edward
is involved in a film production
company based in Los Angeles and
Harry sits on the board of British brand
Belstaff, ›››
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June 2012 | The Resident 37
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38 The Resident | June 2012
known for their cool jackets. In April
this year the brothers announced the
launch of their new £500m real estate
vehicle Queensgate Investments.
12. Oliver Barker
Olly Barker is deputy chairman,
Europe and senior international
specialist of Contemporary Art at
Sotheby’s, which he joined in 1994.
He was instrumental in overseeing
the sale of Damien Hirst’s paintings
in 2004 for over £11 million and
organising/auctioneering both
the (Red) auction in New York to
benefi t the Global Fund. He has been
pivotally involved in a signifi cant rise
in value of contemporary British art.
13. Duchess of Cambridge
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is
the wife of Prince William, Duke of
Cambridge. She studied in Scotland
at the University of St Andrews, where
she met Prince William. Before they
were married Catherine worked for
her parents company Party Pieces
and fashion store Jigsaw. The royal
engagement was announced on 16
November 2010, and she attended
many high-profi le royal events before
they married on 29 April 2011 at
Westminster Abbey. The Duchess
has accepted honorary positions at
four charities including Action on
Addiction, East Anglia’s Children’s
Hospices, The Art Room and National
Portrait Gallery. She was recently
voted the most fashionable royal
female and has boosted the UK
economy by £1bn.
14. Alison Cork
Read by millions every week, home
guru Alison Cork has built up a
formidable reputation as a homes
and interiors expert. Alongside her
columns in the Daily Telegraph,
Evening Standard, The Times and
Sunday Mirror, she owns three
property websites, has recently
launched her own homeware range,
and is about to launch her own home
retail magazine. Alongside this she
presents Channel Four’s property
series Secret Removers. Her company,
The Alison At Home Group, operates
out of offi ces near her home in
Belgravia. With her ever-expanding
empire, she is fast becoming a force to
be reckoned with.
15. Livia Firth
Livia Giuggioli was born in Italy and
has been married to British actor Colin
Firth since 1997. The couple live in
Notting Hill and have two sons, Luca
and Matteo. Giuggioli has a PhD and
was the creative director of the Eco
Age shop in Chiswick, and of websites
eco-age.com and Brightwide.com. The
latter was launched with her husband
in October 2009 at the London Film
Festival. No doubt you are getting the
picture – Livia is an active campaigner
for human rights and climate change
and she can count In Prison My Whole
Life amongst some of documentaries
she has made. Two years ago she
started the Green Carpet Challenge
on Vogue.com, using the awards
season to showcase the very best
of ethical fashion.
16. Merrick Cockell
Sir Merrick Cockell is a man with
deep roots in the Royal Borough of
Kensington & Chelsea: his grandfather
was Adjutant of the Kensington
Regiment in the First World War and
his wife’s grandfather was Mayor
during the Second World War. Right
now his focus as Chairman of the LGA
is on helping local government adapt
to huge reductions in government
grant. Merrick is keen to share services
with our tri-borough neighbours
in Hammersmith and Fulham and
Westminster. But he says, ‘This
period is not going to be all about
shrinking, reducing and declining. We
are pursuing an ambitious Crossrail
station up at Kensal. A station would
turbo charge the development of the
67-acre gasworks site and would mean
thousands of new homes and local
jobs.’ So far Crossrail are not ready to
sign up but Sir Merrick says he won’t
give up without a bit of a fi ght.
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17. Jamie Murray Wells.
Old Harrovian Jamie Murray Wells
is a close friend of Prince William
and is a Notting Hill resident. Jamie
made a £10 million fortune through
the success of his online business
glassesdirect.co.uk which he set up
when just 21. The early days of his
business started out in his parents
sitting room where Murray Wells
often employed friends as secretaries.
Now 27, Jamie has expanded with
hearingdirect.com, a similar business
selling hearing aids. He continues to
be one of the most successful and
admired young entrepreneurs of his
generation.
18. Natalia Vodianova
Born in Russia in 1982, Natalia grew
up in a poor district of the city where
she helped her mother earn a living
for their family as a fruit seller. It
was there that she was discovered,
aged16, by a model scout. In 2001,
she married The Honourable Justin
Portman, heir to a family that owns
vast swathes of central London. The
pair had three children together
but separated last year. Kensington
resident Natalia founded the Naked
Heart Foundation, an organisation that
has built nearly 30 play facilities for
children in urban Russia. Her rags to
riches life story has made her one of
the most talked about supermodels in
recent memory.
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Roy Riley
19. Zac Goldsmith
Born in 1975, Zac is the son of the late
business tycoon Jimmy Goldsmith.
In his early career, he worked
with a number of environmental
organizations, joined the Ecologist
magazine in 1998 and later became
editor. Having launched campaigns
on climate change, GM food and
pesticides, Zac is widely regarded
as a prominent voice of radical
environmentalism. In 2003 he received
the Beacon Prize for philanthropy,
and a year later received Gobachev’s
Global Green Award for International
Environmental Leadership. In May
2010 he was elected as Conservative
MP for the constituency of Richmond
Park. Zac is a divorced father of three
and lives in Chelsea. His long-term
girlfriend, Alice Rothschild is his
brother Ben’s sister-in-law.
20. Andrea DeBellis
Andrea DeBellis began her passion
for fitness in New York City while
practising barre workouts as a pause
from her busy life. She was inspired
by the community aspect of boutique
fitness and moving to London for her
job in 2010, she realised there was an
opportunity to launch an empowering,
results-oriented method. Driven by a
desire to provide her experiences to
like-minded people, she left her job in
2011 to team up with trainer, Niki Rein.
The pair formed Barrecore Studio on
the King’s Road, where they transform
bodies via their unique one-hour barre
class, cultivating strength in body,
mind and spirit in each of their clients.
21. Boris Johnson
Born in 1964, Boris is a British
Conservative Party politician and
journalist. He started his career as a
member of parliament for Henley and
editor of The Spectator. In the 2001
general election he was elected ›››
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to the House of Commons and
became one of the most colourful
politicians in the country. In
September 2007 Boris
was selected as the
Conservative
candidate for the
2008 London mayoral
election. He has recently
been re-elected as the
Mayor of London, defeating
Labour candidate Ken
Livingstone for the second
time. With over a million votes,
he received the largest personal
mandate of any politician in
British history.
22. Daisy Harrison
Daisy Harrison opened her first
nursery school, Miss Daisy’s Nursery
in Belgravia in September 2006. Daisy
had previously taught at Thomas’s
school and then Garden House Boys
School where she was in charge of
Boys Preparatory. Daisy wanted to
create a nursery school that offered
the best possible care for young
children and to help prepare the
children for their future schools.
After huge demand and an
impossibly long waiting list, She
opened a second nursery school
in Chelsea in January 2010. Daisy
designed a nursery school in the crypt
of St Luke’s Church and turned the
space into a bright, welcoming nursery
school in the heart of Chelsea. The
children from Miss Daisy’s go onto all
the best schools in the area including
Garden House School, Knightsbridge
School, Francis Holland, Thomas’s,
Eaton House Belgravia, Falkner House
and Cameron House School.
23. Julia Perowne
After attending Edinburgh University,
Julia Perowne became Founder and
Managing Director of PCC – Perowne
Charles Communications, a travel
and lifestyle communications
company. Julia represents some of
the best hotels in the world including
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Le Bristol
Paris, Parrot Cay, The Halkin and
COMO. This no doubt goes a way to
explain why she is always sporting
an enviable tan. Jules’ speciality is
launching hotels and arranging events.
PCC is a global company with offices
and partners in Milan, UAE, Paris
and Munich. She runs her office in
Chelsea with a team of 14 staff.
40 The Resident | June 2012
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24. Astrid Harbord
Astrid started her career at Lichfield’s
upmarket property search company.
With numerous charity balls including
the Children’s Trust Ball and Wild
for WSPA under her belt, Astrid has
now started her own company Astrid
Harbord Communications where
she combines charity events, PR and
brand consultancy. Astrid who grew
up in Chelsea says, “I try very much to
link everything I do to charity if I can.”
She recently organised a pop-up shop
in aid of her favourite charity, The
Children’s Trust at the Beaufort House
bar on the King’s Road which was
covered by Tatler.
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25. Ken Costa
Former Chairman of UBS Investment
Bank, and then Chairman of Lazard
International. Ken is Chairman
of Alpha International. Alpha is
an informal introduction to the
Christian faith run in churches all
over the country. Alpha now runs
in 166 countries and an estimated
16 million people have completed
the course worldwide. Ken is a keen
philanthropist, Fundraising Patron of
Great Ormond St Hospital, Gresham
Professor of Commerce, and a Trustee
of the Nelson Mandela Children’s
Fund. He lives in Chelsea with his wife,
Fi, and their four children. }
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