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... he appointed a new CEO, restructured the board and saw the organisation enjoy record ratings, revenues and surplus. He also served as Chairman of the trustees of the £150m Channel 4 staff pension plan.
In May 2010 Luke became a strategic investor in Beer & Partners, the UK's largest business investment agency. He is also Chairman of Fast Track, the UK's leading networking events and research company focusing on Britain's top-performing private companies. Luke is a non-executive director of art publisher Phaidon Press. In August 2010 Luke assumed control of Feng Sushi, a London-based chain of Japanese restaurants specialising in home delivery, and in September 2010 he purchased a majority stake in casual-dining firm Ego Group. Luke is also chairman/part-owner of Automative Repair Solutions, the largest bodyshop group in the South-East of England, with revenues of over £50m
Luke writes a weekly column on entrepreneurship for The Financial Times and wrote a weekly column on business matters for The Sunday Telegraph for eight years until 2006. He also writes a monthly column for Management Today.
Luke studied medicine at Oxford University and graduated in 1983. He then worked as a media analyst at stockbroker Grieveson Grant (subsequently Kleinwort Benson Securities).
Luke took control of PizzaExpress with partners in 1993 and subsequently became Chairman. He grew the business from 12 owned restaurants to over 250, and the share price from 40p to over 900p. He sold out in 1999 and started Signature Restaurants, which owned The Ivy and Le Caprice, as well as the Belgo chain, selling the business in 2005. He started the Strada restaurant concept from scratch and took the chain to 30 units and sold it in late 2005. The total proceeds from these two disposals were in excess of £90 million.
In the period 1993 to date he has been involved as a Director/owner of various quoted companies in retailing, pubs and bars, parcel delivery and maritime commerce, including Whittard of Chelsea, My Kinda Town, Nightfreight and American Port Services. Luke was co-founder/owner and Director of InterQuest Group plc, before stepping down in 2010. He is a former investor in fresh fish distributor Seafood Holdings, which was sold for £45m in 2010.
He has been a principal owner of GRA, the UK's largest greyhound track owner, since early 2005.
He was the principal owner of Mayfair Gaming, the chain of Riva bingo clubs, from 2004. This was sold in 2006 for an IRR of over 40%.
Luke founded Integrated Dental Holdings with partners in 1996 and grew it to become the largest UK chain of dental surgeries with over 500 dentists. This was sold in 2006 for over £100 million.
From 2004 to 2006 he was a Director of Dollar Financial Group Inc, a US NASDAQ traded corporation with some $80m EBITDA.
Luke was appointed Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts in 2008. He was a governor of The University of the Arts London between 2000 and 2006. He is also Chairman of StageOne, a charity in support of new producers of quality commercial theatre in the UK.
His new book, "Start It Up: Why Running Your Own Business Is Easier Than You Think" is available on pre-order, to be published by Penguin in autumn 2011.
Luke’s speeches are always cultured, entertaining and provocative. He speaks passionately about the contribution of entrepreneurialism to the good of society, and the personal value of optimism, determination and self-reliance. Luke is equally comfortable talking to sector-specific audiences, particularly those relating to his own interests i.e. the media, the restaurant trade and private equity.
Former clients include:
The Institute of Directors, HSBC, J P Morgan, Barclays, Guardian Media Summit, Endemol, Management Today, Yell, Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, London, Business School, Master Investor, Marketing Society, The Institute of Chartered Accountancy, The Manchester Enterprise Summit, The School of Life, BDO Stoy Hayward, Loyalty World Conference 2009, Numerous private and unbilled events.
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- Leading from the Top
- Entrepreneurship – What it takes
- Economic Crises? – Where to go from here
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