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Lloyd Dorfman

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Sir
Lloyd Dorfman
CVO CBE
Born (1952-08-25) 25 August 1952 (age 72)
NationalityBritish
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder of Travelex
SpouseSarah Dorfman

Sir Lloyd Marshall Dorfman CVO CBE (born 25 August 1952) is a British entrepreneur[1] and philanthropist. He founded Travelex, the world's largest retailer of foreign exchange.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, Dorfman is worth £720 million.[2]

Early life and education

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Dorfman's family were Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe who came to London before The Great War.[3] He was educated at St Paul's.[4] He did not attend university.[5]

Career

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In 1976, Dorfman started his own currency exchange business from one small shop based in Southampton Row in central London.[6] The company spread to ports overseas, initially in the Netherlands and Belgium.[7] In 1986, Dorfman won Travelex a landmark contract as the first non-bank foreign exchange provider at the newly opened Heathrow Terminal 4. The company expanded into airports worldwide, opening in the USA in 1989 shortly followed by Australia in 1990.[7][8]

The £440m acquisition of Thomas Cook's Global & Financial Services business in March 2001 made Travelex the world's largest non-bank foreign exchange business. Dorfman began to develop the presence of the company in Asia, starting with Japan and spreading to India in 2003 and China in 2004.[9]

Travelex sold its card programme management business to MasterCard for £290 million in 2011, and then its Global Business Payments to Western Union for £606 million. In 2014, an agreement was reached to sell Travelex to shareholders in Abu Dhabi.[10]

Travelex pioneered sponsorship deals including Travelex Cheap Ticket Season at the National Theatre,[11] as well as sponsoring the winning World Cup teams for Australian Cricket in 2003 and England Rugby the same year.

Current business activity

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He was previously chairman and majority shareholder of The Office Group, the British pioneers of co working spaces, from 2010 to 2017, before selling the business in a £500 mn deal with Blackstone in June 2017.[12] In 2014, he co-founded and became chairman of Doddle,[13] the e-commerce software business.[14]

Dorfman has a number of other business interests, including shareholder and director of the London Theatre Company. He sits on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's Business Advisory Board.[15][16][17]


Philanthropy

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Dorfman became chairman of youth and enterprise charity the Prince’s Trust in 2015, having joined the charity's Council in 2007. He was also the chairman of Prince’s Trust International, which aims to help unemployed young people around the globe into education, training and work.[18]. He is now vice president of King's Trust International (formerly Prince's Trust International).

In addition, he is chair of the Royal Opera House, deputy chairman of the Community Security Trust, and was a trustee of the Royal Academy Trust and of JW3; and was a governor of St Paul's School from 2005 to 2016.[19]

He was on the board of the National Theatre from 2007 to 2015, and the National Theatre's Cottesloe was renamed the Dorfman Theatre in 2013 following a gift of £10 million towards the National Theatre Future redevelopment project.[20] Dorfman was on the board of BAFTA from 2017 to 2023.[21]

In 2017, following a gift from the Dorfman Foundation, the Royal Academy announced the launch of two new international architecture awards, and the restoration of the Senate Rooms in Burlington Gardens to house a new architecture space and café.[22]

In 2023, Dorfman gave £200,000 to support the Royal Academy of Dance.[23]

Honours and awards

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In 2001 Dorfman was the winner of the Consumer Business Category in the UK "Entrepreneur of the Year" awards sponsored by Ernst & Young, Citibank and The Times. In 2002 he received the British American Chamber of Commerce's UK Entrepreneurial Award, and the Institute of Economic Affairs' Free Enterprise Award. In 2007 he received the Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK award.[24]

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to business and charity.[25] He was knighted in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to philanthropy and the arts. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to the Prince's Trust.[26]

In 2011, he was awarded The Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy.[27] He is an honorary fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford and an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Buckingham University in 2016.[28]


Personal life

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He is married with three children, and lives in London.[29]

References

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  1. ^ List of companies related to Lloyd Dorfman – http://www.cbetta.com/director/lloyd-marshall-dorfman-3
  2. ^ Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 201‑300=". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Lloyd Dorfman". 26 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Lloyd Bio Bloomberg". Bloomberg.
  5. ^ "Dinner with Lloyd Dorfman – Prelude". Prelude. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  6. ^ "About Us |Travelex UK". www.travelex.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Travelex history". travelex-corporate.com. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  8. ^ Dorfman, Lloyd (4 April 2016). "Entrepreneurs are risk-takers – but voting Out is a step too far". cityam.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Travelex history". travelex-corporate.com. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Travelex sold to owner of UAE Exchange in £1bn deal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  11. ^ "The man who introduced cheap theatre tickets is a hard act follow". The Independent. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Blackstone taking control of The Office Group". Sky News. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  13. ^ "Now I've hitched my wagons to the internet shopping express | The Sunday Times". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  14. ^ Dorfman, Lloyd (21 May 2015). "Clicks vs bricks is gone: E-commerce firms need both". cityam.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  15. ^ Dorfman, Lloyd (28 March 2017). "Brexit will be a huge challenge for London – but our best days lie ahead". Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Team Ainslie is picking out the racing line for UK plc". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  17. ^ "Mayor announces Business Advisory Board | London City Hall". Government of the United Kingdom. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  18. ^ "LLOYD DORFMAN | UK Case Studies | Coutts Million Dollar Donor Report". philanthropy.coutts.com. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Lloyd Dorfman: A tycoon blurring lines between business and charity". London Evening Standard. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  20. ^ Theatre, National. "News | National Theatre NT Future". Royal National Theatre. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Board of Trustees". www.bafta.org. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  22. ^ "New architecture space and prizes announced for 2018". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  23. ^ Morrison, Richard (13 June 2024). "The woman who's given £500 million to the arts — what has she learnt?". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  24. ^ Johnston, Chris (10 December 2011). "To sponsor cheap tickets or not to, that was the question . . ". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  25. ^ "TV entertainers head honours list". BBC News. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  26. ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B4.
  27. ^ "Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy 2011 – News stories". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  28. ^ "Honorary Graduates 2016 | University of Buckingham". www.buckingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  29. ^ "Prince's Trust Council". princes-trust.org.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
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