Colin Sullivan of Brentwood, Essex is quite extraordinary as
anyone who has met him will testify. The
younger generation are spellbound by the real-life stories that he can tell and
the Boys Own type of adventures that he continues to have.
Born in Dagenham to working class parents shortly before the
end of the Second World War, Colin thrived on the changing times that the East
End of London was embracing. School was
a welcome challenge for Colin but his schooldays were a struggle as his
dyslexia was not diagnosed until much later in life. A constant companion during his early school
days was a pet Jackdaw that Colin had tamed and would wait patiently outside
the school for the children to leave and then sit on Colin’s shoulder as he
made his way home through the Dagenham post war streets. A love of birds remains to this day.
The early years in the Sullivan household were not easy and
Colin was often the subject of a bullying older brother’s abuse which resulted
in frequent trips to the local hospital.
His father and brother were both lazy and unambitious with his mother
often being the only breadwinner in the family and having to work extremely long
hours to support the four of them. Colin soon learned how to take care of
himself and as a young boy Colin loved helping his mother run her mobile shop –
dipping into the packets of biscuits without her knowing. It was these early days that fuelled Colin’s
passion for work and very soon he had several money-making enterprises
underway, including selling wood and bleach to neighbours. Even before he left school he was earning a
wage that enabled him to help his mother to support his family.
London for teenagers in the 1950’s offered a wealth of
opportunities and Colin was not shy to seize them. Before he was officially permitted to drive
he owned numerous vehicles that he repaired and sold for a profit which led to
him opening his first car site whilst still a teenager. With foresight he purchased the freehold to
the site which gave him a platform to launch other business ventures.
Before his 21st birthday, Colin owned several
successful car sites and the famous Top Deck Night Club that he had persuaded J.
Lyons & Co (celebrated for the Lyons Corner House chain) to sell him. Taking advantage of the pirate radio
revolution, Colin engaged the popular DJ’s of the time such as Dave Lee Travis
and Simon Dee and world famous acts including The Stones, Wayne Fontana and
Johnnie Ray. The club became and
overnight success and Colin went on to purchase another landmark nightspot, The
Barn Hotel and Night Club in Braintree.
The Barn Hotel &
Restaurant
Having a head for business and a thirst for expansion Colin
employed management teams to run his car showrooms and nightclubs while he concentrated
on other business ventures. Very
quickly Colin realised that there was a gap in the market for tyre shops
selling direct to the public and Colin created the SMC chain of over 40 outlets
in London and the south east. Having a
passion for engineering, Colin designed the first small concrete lorry “Mini
Mix” which he commissioned to be built in Italy and became a global success. By this time, Colin had been quietly
investing in commercial property and opened an office in Essex to manage his
numerous enterprises. His time was spent
commuting between his office in Italy and London by day and running his
clubs/hotels by night. Obviously, this
was a diverse portfolio and Colin took advantage of the property boom in the
1970’s and sold The Barn Hotel complex for residential development and the Top
Deck (renamed Circus Tavern) to the successful Wheatley chain. Colin now concentrated on his property
portfolio, investment and development.
The Top Deck / Circus
Tavern
During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Colin concentrated on
purchasing large factories and industrial estates and sub-dividing them into
smaller units. It was Colin who created
the first ‘Nursery Units’ which have remained popular to this day. With a
large back-up team in the office, The SMC Group expanded and invested in
numerous landmark properties. With Colin
at the helm and Zbys Szadbey (solicitor) as his right-hand man, the company
flourished. However, Colin’s dealer
instinct never left him and he would steadily work away at an opportunity until
it could be purchased for the right money.
Colin’s expertise is widely respected and even today, large renowned agents
request his off-the-record valuations on problem properties.
Colin never let his dyslexia hinder him and went on to obtain
a helicopter and fixed wing licences.
With a helicopter hangared in the garden there was no stopping him from
hopping from site to site and speeding up his workload. A familiar sight would be Colin lifting off
from Weald Hall, his home in South Weald.
Weald Hall
His interest in aviation led him to open an office at Ft
Lauderdale airport (Florida) in the late 1980’s. However, as usual Colin did not just open a conventional
office/showroom offering aircraft for sale; he opened an elite pawn shop. High value items were brought to the FBO
(Fixed Base Operator) and sums were lent against them. Pawned items ranged from the latest private
executive jets to performance cars and speed boats. The SMC Group now had offices on both sides
of the Atlantic and Colin and Zbys spread their time between the two continents
running the expanding company. Colin and
SMC were involved in many major developments in the thriving 1980’s London and
up-and-coming Docklands area and, as a result opened additional offices in
London. In 1995 SMC were the
under-bidders for London City Airport (then STOLport) when it sold to Dermot
Desmond for £23.5 million.
London City Airport
Colin and Zbys had been working successfully together for
nearly 20 years when tragedy struck and Zbys was killed in a motor accident
whilst on his way to meet Colin. Colin
was left devastated and the following years saw him scale down or sell his various
business interests and concentrate on commercial property transactions that he
could throw himself into. Colin focussed
on undertaking many local developments including the 250,000 ft² Hillgrove
Business Park Development in Nazeing, Essex and company mergers and acquisitions
(Perrings Furniture chain of 9 stores throughout the UK).
Hillgrove Business Park
Although the
property business continued to be a full-time occupation Colin continued to
invest his spare time in further opportunities.
In the late 1990’s Colin created Premier 1 Grand Prix, the soccer-affiliated
Formula 1 rival. Premier 1 Grand Prix, was given backing by the FIA's World
Motorsports Council and the new series planned for 24 cars, all of a single
chassis design and manufacture and with identical 3-liter V10 powerplants. Colin
put his efforts in the recruitment of soccer clubs with many major clubs
featuring launches of dummy cars in their home stadia. The aim of the series was to have each car
carrying the colours of a top soccer club, with three teams each from the
English, French, German, Italian and Spanish leagues with the rest coming from
the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and South America.
Colin
Sullivan at the Benfica / Premier 1 Launch
Colin went
on to be a major adviser to Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone during the sale
of the F1 rights to CVC.
By the mid 2000’s Colin had offices in London, Switzerland,
France and the United States, homes in the UK, Cannes and Zurich a yacht in
Florida and aircraft at his disposal. It
was time to take a break. After winning
a prolonged dispute with Kevin Maxwell who had purchased the renowned former Financial
Times building from SMC, Colin took a sabbatical for several years. The FT ($191 million) dispute had spanned
several years and was eventually resolved amicably with all concerned remaining
on good terms.
Former Financial Times
Building
Having re-charged his batteries, Colin is back investing and
developing in the UK. Colin cannot leave
his love of aviation and is currently negotiating to purchase an airline for
approximately £500 million and continues to fly himself privately.
When many of his peers are thinking of winding down, Colin
continues to embrace life to the fullest.
As a keen snowboarder, cyclist and aviator who works 12 hours a day, 6
days a week may of the younger generation are finding it hard to keep up!
