Irvine Sellar


Irvine Gerald Sellar was an English fashion retailer, turned property developer. He was the founder of the Sellar Property Group, and the developer of The Shard.

Early life

Sellar was born on 9 September 1934 in Essex, England.
His father was a glove shopkeeper in the East End of London. His family was Jewish, and he grew up in Southgate, London. Sellar left school at 16 and studied accounting but decided to start working instead.

Career

Sellar started his career as a market trader in Chelmsford. He later opened a shop in St Albans, where he sold suits. He opened a shop on Wardour Street in Soho in 1964.A year later, he opened another shop in Soho, on Carnaby Street. Meanwhile, he founded the first unisex fashion company in the United Kingdom, Mates by Irvine Sellars. The company later became "Britain’s second-biggest fashion chain," with 90 shops in 1981. That year, he sold it to a South African investor.
Sellar founded Ford Sellar Morris, a property company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company invested in shopping centres in the suburbs, for example in Stockton. Sellar borrowed £111m in 1989 and, because of a property downturn in 1991, the company went bankrupt in 1991-92, when Sellar lost £30 million.
Sellar founded the Sellar Property Group. He acquired the headquarters of PwC in London Bridge in 1998. That year, he acquired the site of what would later become The Shard. With 80% from Qatari investors, Sellar completed the construction of The Shard in 2012. He subsequently developed buildings near Paddington Station.
In December 2016, his plan to develop the 19-storey Paddington Cube for £775 million was approved by the Westminster City Council.

Personal life

With his wife Elizabeth, Sellar had two sons, James, who went on to serve as chairman of the family businessman, and Paul, a playwright, as well as a daughter, Caroline.
In 2015, Irvine and James Sellar had an estimated joint wealth of GBP£220 million. Sellar was a black belt in judo, drove a Rolls-Royce and smoked cigars.

Death

Irvine Sellar died on 26 February 2017, aged 82.