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Tony Banks (businessman)

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Tony Banks
Born (1961-10-23) 23 October 1961 (age 62)
Known forFounder of the Balhousie Care Group, Falklands veteran

Anthony Roiall Banks (born 23 October 1961) is a British businessman, author and Falklands veteran. He was the chairman and founder of the Balhousie Care Group, Scotland's largest private residential care home provider. He is chairman of Business for Scotland and is a vocal supporter of Scottish Independence. In recent years a number of businesses Banks have been associated with have faced public controversy.

Early life and education

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Born 23 October 1961, Banks grew up the youngest of four children in Dundee.[1] Banks’ father was an RAF logistics sergeant and his mother was a housewife. His first job was working as a newspaper delivery boy. He also worked as a refuse collector, a shelf stacker, a chicken catcher, an electrician's assistant, and a raspberry picker.

Banks left school aged 17 to study accountancy at Abertay University, then known as Dundee Institute of Technology. He currently holds an honorary doctorate in Business Administration from the same university.[2]

Career

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Military

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Banks joined the Territorial Army Parachute Regiment to supplement his student grant shortly after enrolling at the University of Abertay. He eventually left his course to join the Territorial Army full-time.

In 1982, Banks was sent to serve in the Falklands War as part of 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 Para). His regiment was the first battalion to land and the first to win a major battle. Banks fought at the Battle of Goose Green and the Battle of Wireless Ridge and observed the Bluff Cove air attacks. He also witnessed the death of one of his closest friends during the Falklands War.

Banks is Honorary Colonel of the Territorial Army's 71 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) and in 2013, he launched a website for those who lived through World War II to upload personal accounts.[3][4] Banks is a donor and board member for Combat Stress, a charity which helps ex-servicemen and women affected by post-traumatic stress disorder.[5][6] In March 2012, 30 years after the Falklands War, Banks released Storming the Falklands: My War and After[7]. The book charts his experiences in war, how he struggled for years with combat-related stress, and how he has just recently managed to come to terms with his experiences.[8]

Balhousie Care Group

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After his military career, Banks worked as an insurance salesman.[2] Banks decided to move back to Scotland to build a family-run care home business.[9] Banks incorporated Balhousie Care Group and bought his first care home in 1991, Balhousie Lisden in Kirriemuir, Angus. After 12 years, the group consisted of three care homes with £1.5m turnover.[9]

The group is Scotland's largest private care home provider with 27 care facilities, employs more than 900 people and as of 2019 had a turnover of just under £40m.[10]

in 2022 Tony Banks sold the Balhousie Care Group while remaining an investor in the company.[11] [12] [13]

In 2023 following an inspection, The Care Inspectorate identified serious and significant concerns about the quality of care experienced by residents at Balhousie Huntly Care Home.[14] Relatives had been making complaints for over two years. The facility was subsequently taken over by the Scottish Government. Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett called for an investigation to question why action was not taken sooner to demand improvements.[15]

Response to COVID-19

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Banks has been widely published for his strong views on Scottish government support for care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. He made the decision to lock down the group's 26 care facilities on 11 March, 12 days before the nationwide lockdown.[16] Banks insisted the care homes would not relax visiting rules until safer practices were in place to minimise risk of transmission of the virus.[17][18] In September 2020, Banks called on the government to review its mass staff testing policy for care home workers, noting slow test results for his staff.[19][20]

Tayside Aviation

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In December 2021 Tayside Aviation was bought by ARB Aviation, a company set up by Banks. The company was placed into administration on 21 April 2023. ARB Aviation has claimed that at the time of purchase, the company value was misrepresented and overvalued. They have also claimed that the maintenance records of aircraft had been falsified. Student pilots suffered significant financial loss when their training abruptly ended with the collapse of the company.[21][22]

Other business ventures

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Banks’ other business interests include property development[23] and the pharmacy sector.[1] In July 2018, he revealed his plans to invest in the medicinal marijuana industry in the USA.[24][25]

In the media

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The Secret Millionaire

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In 2009, Banks appeared on the sixth series of Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire in which he spent time living and getting to know residents on a low-income estate in Whitfield, Dundee. During the programme he donated to people he had met and has subsequently given more than £70,000 to organisations[26] that he got to know during filming, including Daisy UK, a Liverpool-based organisation headed up by Dave Kelly.[27][28][29]

From War to Peace

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In 2010, the BBC filmed a documentary entitled 'From War to Peace', in which a film crew followed Banks on a journey to Argentina. Banks had left the Falklands with a war trophy which he had kept for 28 years – a trumpet taken from an Argentinean prisoner of war named Omar Tabarez.[30] With the help of a journalist who tracked down Tabarez, Banks visited him at his home in Argentina to hand back the trumpet.[31]

Political activity

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In May 2013, Banks joined the pro-independence Business for Scotland network[32] where he remains chairman.[33] He is a strong proponent for Scottish Independence and is an SNP donor.[34]

Personal life

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In 2016 Banks was acquitted of assaulting his then-girlfriend 28 year old Kimberley Anderson at his home in Kirriemuir after she claimed at the trial to have lied to the police and invented the allegations.[35]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bolshaw, Liz (3 October 2011). "Tony Banks: A strong work ethic is the key". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Tony Banks - Abertay - Honorary Graduate". Abertay. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Tony Banks Appointed Honorary Colonel of Scottish TA Regiment | Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce". www.dundeeandanguschamber.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Dundee Falklands War veteran launches World War II site". BBC News. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Secret Millionaire joins Combat Stress appeal board". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  6. ^ Dailyrecord.co.uk (29 January 2010). "East Ayrshire Provost backs Combat Stress charity". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Interview:Tony Banks, former soldier and entrepreneur". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Ex-Defence Secretary John Nott warns over Falklands". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  9. ^ a b "'I'm A Believer In Being In Business In Spite Of Government...' (INTERVIEW)". HuffPost UK. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. ^ McLaren, Rob. "Balhousie Care Group records £41m sales". The Courier. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Perth-based Balhousie Care Group bought by international health care firm in multi-million-pound deal". 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Balhousie Care Group bought by AcalisCare". 29 March 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  13. ^ "North-east care home operator changes hands in multi-million pound deal". 29 March 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Registration of Huntly care home cancelled by operator". 29 March 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  15. ^ Mackay, David (23 June 2023). "Calls for investigation to examine how Balhousie care home in Huntly 'spiralled out of control'". Press and Journal. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  16. ^ "'Three months of mixed messages, mismanagement and missed opportunities' – care homes chief speaks out". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Statement from Balhousie Care Group Chairman Tony Banks | Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce". www.dundeeandanguschamber.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Covid in Scotland: Relaxed care home visiting rules 'ill thought out'". BBC News. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  19. ^ Swindon, Peter. "The wrong kind of test tubes: Why NHS labs can't help clear coronavirus testing backlog". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  20. ^ Percival, Richard (1 June 2020). "Nicola Sturgeon shamed: Scottish leader faces backlash for coronavirus care home crisis". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  21. ^ Walker, Peter A. (12 June 2023). "Tony Banks makes legal claim against former Tayside Aviation owners". businessInsider. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  22. ^ Clark, Callum (27 September 2022). "Trainee pilots lose thousands after flight school enters administration". STV News. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  23. ^ McCulloch, Scott (25 September 2017). "Balhousie Care Group to buy back leased properties after securing £49m refinancing". businessInsider. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  24. ^ "Cannabis venture for Scots care home tycoon". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  25. ^ Macaskill, Mark. "Balhousie founder Tony Banks in cannabis pipe dream". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  26. ^ Bradley, Jane. "Care homes founder who wants to be a not so secret millionaire". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  27. ^ "About Us – Daisy Inclusive UK". Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  28. ^ Shennan, Paddy (30 September 2009). "Secret Millionaire Tony Banks spreads happiness – and thousands of pounds – in Liverpool and Sefton". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  29. ^ "The Secret Millionaire Changed My Life - S7". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  30. ^ "Falklands veteran returns trumpet seized from Argentine soldier". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  31. ^ "From War to Peace". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  32. ^ "Scottish referendum: Business leaders join new pro-independence group". BBC News. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  33. ^ "Scottish Independence best for entire UK and CBI should know better". Business for Scotland. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  34. ^ Editor, Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political. "Call independence vote or quit, donor tells Sturgeon". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 February 2021. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ "'Secret Millionaire' Tony Banks cleared of assault". BBC News. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
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