Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson (born 1940http://www.nw-enquirer.co.uk/business/inside_edge/inside_edge_-_thursday_july_20_2006_200607211118.html] ), is a Birkenhead based business man and football investor.

The son of a butcher, Johnson helped build the family business into Park Foods, the leading supplier of Christmas hampers in the early 1990s. From this base, Johnson took Tranmere Rovers from the foot of the Football League to the Championship, and was chairman of Everton F.C. until 1999.

After having an estimated fortune of £150M in the early 1990s, Johnson's fortune has dropped to £58M in 2004 [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2108-1066960,00.html Table: The football millionaires - Sunday Times - Times Online ] ] .

Park Foods

The son of a butcher, Johnson branched the family butchery business out into a Christmas Savings club in 1967. The Park Hamper Company was formed in 1969, and Park Foods became a major player in the weekly cash savings business.

By the early 1990s, Birkenhead based Park Foods had made Johnson one of the UK's richest people, with an estimated fortune of £150M. At its peak, Park Foods packed 1m Christmas hampers and delivered them to people who had saved up to £5 a week all year. Johnson also became chairman of Nightfreight GB when in went public on the London Stock Exchange in 1993 [ [http://www.nightfreight.co.uk/freight_forwarders.asp?ID=132&level2=9&node=76 Nightfreight ] ] .

However, it was in the mid 1990's that Johnson got dynamic, and branched his interests out into both football and flavoured crisps, the later of which sent Park Foods into a downward spiral - it lost £6.2M in first half of 1997 [ [http://archive.thisiswirral.co.uk/1997/12/4/19834.html Pressure mounts on Peter Johnson - This Is Wirral ] ] . By Christmas 2004, due partly to intense competition from supermarkets, Park packed just 75,000 - the UK public continued to save, but preferred to spend loan club cash on shopping vouchers or hi-tech goods like TVs and videos. Park Group's cash lending book - where loans are typically £300 - between 2003 and 2004 grew 82% to £24.6m [ [http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=317354&in_page_id=2&in_a_source=Daily%20Mail Johnson seeks a place to Park | This is Money ] ] .

In October 2004, Johnson put the group valued at around £49M up for sale, after the failure of the both the flavoured crisp and door-step loan businesses [ [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6303018_ITM Daily Mail, London, market report column. | Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (October , 2004) ] ] . Park Group plc, today valued at £33M , consists of:

*Park Retail - the savings club, the Country Christmas Savings club, and the High Street Gift voucher
*Park Travel - a full service travel agent
*Park Direct Credit - provides credit services
*Park Financial Services - includes loan broker Imagine Finance
*Park Direct Insurance

Football

Johnson was born a Liverpool F.C. supporter, a one time share holder.

In 1987, Johnson was approached by local football club Tranmere Rovers, to take over running of the club and restore stability, after American Bruce Osterman ran up large debts. Johnson duly took control of the then Fourth Division club, and got them up to the Second Division by 1990 [ [http://www.tranmere-rovers.co.uk/tranmere-history.html A Brief History of Tranmere Rovers | Tranmere History and Information ] ] .

After Everton avoided relegation in 1994, Johnson agreed to inject £10M via a rights issue into Everton F.C., as advised by NM Rothschild from a Jersey based family trust [ [http://competition.practicallaw.com/0-100-5389 PLC - Everton Football Club: Rights issue to inject new money ] ]

In agreement with Football Association, Johnson agreed to sell shares in one club by 1998, and resultantly appointed his then girlfriend Lorraine Rogers [ [http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/BA75974E-A59C-44DD-98F8-B8B9381B05BA/0/LorraineRogersPressNotice.pdf Department for Culture Media and Sport - Sorry, an error has occurred ] ] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_jobs_and_money/story/0,,183974,00.html The ball's at her feet | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited ] ] to look after his interests at Tranmere [ [http://archive.wirralglobe.co.uk/1999/5/5/15131.html Speak out Peter Johnson - It's time to end this sorry mess! ] ] . It was believed that Johnson would sell his shares in Tranmere, and it was speculated by the press on more than one occasion that he had [ [http://archive.wirralglobe.co.uk/1998/10/7/16853.html Who Owns Tranmere Rovers? ] ] . But as his Park Foods business began to dwindle, Johnson needed to sell big and quickly. Suddenly, rumours persisted that he was touting Everton around as a £50M valued club. On Christmas Eve 1999, Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright and supporters including Peter Gregg struck a deal ahead of other consortia, including one headed by Philip Green, to buy Johnson's 68% controlling stake in Everton for £20M - thus valuing the club at £30M [ [http://www.4thegame.com/wanadoo/news/story/53144/KENWRIGHT+CLINCHES+EVERTON+DEAL.html 4thegame.com News Page: KENWRIGHT CLINCHES EVERTON DEAL ] ] .

Johnson returned to Tranmere as President and made Rogers chairman, but has had the club up for sale since 2002 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tranmere_rovers/2424063.stm BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Tranmere Rovers | Charity launches bid for Tranmere ] ] . In summer 2006, Tranmere revealed accounts which showed the club owed Johnson £6M, and had plans to sell-off their second training ground at Ingleborough Road as a residential development [ [http://icwirral.icnetwork.co.uk/tranmererovers/news/tm_headline=residents-back-bid-to-sell-off-training-ground-&method=full&objectid=17976793&siteid=50061-name_page.html icWirral - Residents back bid to sell off training ground ] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.parkgroup.co.uk/index.php Park Group plc]
* [http://www.toffeeweb.com/club/business/chairmen/johnson.asp Bio at Toffeeweb]