One of the English wine industry’s leading personalities has quit his City board position to give greater attention to wine production at his Kent vineyard.
Richard Balfour-Lynn has stepped down from his position as chief executive and director of property group Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB) from the end of this month to concentrate on work at Hush Heath vineyard.
He said: “This has been a hard decision for me as I have been with MWB group most of my working life. I will remain a committed and supportive shareholder and have every confidence in both the board of MWB group and the management teams to take the group to the next stage of its development. We have two growing subsidiaries with strong brands MWB Business Exchange, Malmaison and Hotel Du Vin.”
Balfour-Lynn is also to step down as chairman and a director of MWB Business Exchange, a serviced office business, with effect from that same date.
With a 30 year career in property, he established MWB, which he floated three years later before spending £140m on the Malmaison chain of boutique hotels and the Hotel du Vin group.
Balfour-Lynn, who will retain his 10 per cent stake in MWB, told City AM: “This has been a hard decision for me as I have been with MWB Group most of my working life. I will remain a committed and supportive shareholder,” adding that he will devote more time to his Hush Heath wine estate, in Kent, which aims to create “English pink sparkling wine to rival the finest from Champagne”.
