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Michael Wynn-Jones

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Michael Wynn-Jones with his wife Delia Smith at the 25th anniversary of the "Capital Canaries", 2000

Michael Wynn-Jones (born September 1941[1]) is a Welsh writer, editor and publisher. He is an honorary life president of Norwich City with his wife, the former television cook Delia Smith, and was previously the Joint Majority Shareholder of the club alongside Smith from 1998 to 2024.[2][3]

Early life

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Wynn-Jones studied at Lancing College and the University of Oxford.[4][5][6] His father was a Church of England vicar in Tivetshall and Redenhall with Harleston, and his mother was a teacher at Diss Grammar School.[7][8] Wynn-Jones married Delia Smith in 1971 in Stowmarket, Suffolk.[4][9][10] Wynn-Jones established New Crane Publishing, which produced some of Smith's books as well as the Sainsbury's magazine, which Wynn-Jones edited.[11][12] In 2005, New Crane Publishing was sold to Seven Publishing for around £7 million; Smith had been working as a consultant for the publishing company.[13][14] Wynn-Jones was the former deputy editor of the Daily Mirror's midweek colour supplement Mirror Magazine, during which time in 1969 it hired Delia Smith in her first role as a cookery writer.[10][15] In 1972, George Gale appointed Wynn-Jones as deputy editor of The Spectator, and he has also worked for the Twentieth Century and Nova magazines.[9][5] Wynn-Jones has also written many books, including The Cartoon History of Britain, George Cruikshank: His Life and London about George Cruikshank, and 100 Years on the Road: A Social History of the Car.[9][16] In her autobiography, Brigid Keenan thanked Wynn-Jones for asking her to write a column on expats for him in the Sainsbury's magazine.[17]

Norwich City

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Wynn-Jones attended his first Norwich City match in 1953.[7] In 1997 he became the joint majority shareholder of the club with his wife Delia Smith.[4][18][19] In Tales From The City, a series of books about the history of the club published in 2015, Wynn-Jones says that in 1996 former majority shareholder Geoffrey Watling invited them to make a loan to the club, in exchange for board of directors positions at the club. They later purchased Watling's shares in the club, making them majority shareholders, and in 1998, Wynn-Jones and Smith owned 63% of the club's shares.[20] By 2006, their share in the club had reduced to 57%,[21] and in 2015 their share had reduced again to 53%.[22] In 2013, the pair wrote off £2.1 million of debt that the club owed them, as part of a £23 million reduction in the club's deficit;[23] it has been estimated that Wynn-Jones and Smith have invested around £12 million into the club since 1996.[24] In the 2015–16 season, Wynn-Jones and Smith's estimated worth was reportedly £23 million, the least of any Premier League club owners.[25][2] Roy Waller wrote of Wynn-Jones and Smith that they are "crucial to the club's success", as they invested a lot with "very little return"; Waller noted that Wynn-Jones attends every Norwich match, both home and away, and often chose to sit with the fans during matches, rather than being in the directors' box.[26]

Wynn-Jones & Smith's twenty-eight years of involvement with Norwich City came to an end on 23 October 2024, when the clubs other shareholders approved a deal that allowed Norfolk Holdings, a business group lead by the American businessman Mark Attanasio that previously purchased a 40.4% stake in the club in April 2024, to increase their stake in the club to 85% and take majority control, with Wynn-Jones and Smith's shares decreasing to 10%. As part of the deal, Wynn-Jones and Smith also agreed to stand down from their roles as club directors and become honorary life presidents of the club.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "MR MICHAEL WYNN JONES director information. Free director information. Director id 901641113".
  2. ^ a b Lakey, Chris (12 May 2016). "Is now the time for Norwich City owners to think of selling up?". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Key People". Norwich City F.C. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Profile: Delia Smith". The Independent. 11 December 1999. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  5. ^ a b Molloy, Mike (March 2016). The Happy Hack - A Memoir of Fleet Street in its Heyday. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 9781786060518. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Delia runs wild in the bookshop". The Independent. 16 October 1995. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  7. ^ a b "An audience with Delia Smith". BBC Radio Norfolk. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Norwich City Joint Majority shareholder Michael Wynn Jones pays tribute to his mother". Eastern Daily Press. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Patton, Robert L. (1974). George Cruikshank: A Revaluation. Vol. 35. Princeton University Press. p. 14. ISBN 0691002932. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  10. ^ a b Bee, Peter Wynter (July 2008). People of the Day 3. People of the Day. p. 103. ISBN 9780954811020. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  11. ^ Goodison, David (8 August 1995). "All gloss and no substance". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  12. ^ "Michael Wynn Jones". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  13. ^ Busfield, Steve (11 January 2005). "Millions added to Delia Smith's stock pot". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  14. ^ Lee, Adrian (14 May 2011). "The two Delia Smiths". Daily Express. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  15. ^ Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries (2005). The Riverside Dictionary of Biography. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 737. ISBN 0618493379. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  16. ^ Berger, Michael L. (2001). The Automobile in American History and Culture: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 242. ISBN 9780313245589. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  17. ^ Keenan, Brigid (March 2011). "Introduction". Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse. Hachette UK. ISBN 9781848546103. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  18. ^ "Norwich legend Watling has died". BBC Sport. 17 November 2004. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  19. ^ "Nigella Lawson joins team to save football club". London Evening Standard. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Safeguarding Norwich City's future was an offer Michael Wynn Jones and Delia Smith could not refuse". Eastern Daily Press. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  21. ^ Hickman, Martin (21 August 2006). "Britain's richest chefs". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  22. ^ "English Premier League Teams Owners". Live Sports Reviews. 24 November 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  23. ^ Osborne, Chris (10 October 2013). "Norwich City erase £23m of debt to secure 'rosy future'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  24. ^ Hough, Andrew (11 May 2011). "Delia Smith: Britain's 'first lady' of cooking". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  25. ^ "Premier League's richest owners: How much is YOUR club's ownership worth?". Daily Mirror. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  26. ^ Waller, Roy (October 2004). Waller's World. Grice Chapman Publishing. pp. 66–67. ISBN 9780954572655. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  27. ^ "Club Statement - October 23, 2024". Norwich City F.C. 23 October 2024.
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