The Directors

Minoan Group of Companies Directors


Christopher Egleton, Executive Chairman, aged 62

After qualifying as a chartered accountant and a subsequent career in the City of London in merchant banking, Mr Egleton spent a period of 6 years with British Land. He then became chief executive and founder shareholder of Beckenham Group Plc, a small industrial group which was floated on Third Market in 1987 and subsequently moved to the Unlisted Securities Market in 1989. He relinquished his major executive role in relation to that group in 1991 and retired from the group in 1993. Throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s he participated in a series of property transactions including existing residential units as well as development sites for both residential and industrial development. For a number of years he was the major shareholder in Pentex Group plc, a UK oil exploration and production company. He realised the bulk of his investment in Pentex Group plc between 1994 and 1995, immediately prior to its flotation, and since that date has concentrated on a number of private business interests but principally that of the Group, which he joined in 1999. He was the founder of Sutherland Associates a venture capital partnership.


Barry Bartman, Finance Director, aged 67

Mr Bartman is a specialist in corporate finance and business strategy. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1965, he worked primarily in corporate finance at Coopers & Lybrand, N M Rothschild & Sons and British Land. He has worked as a consultant for many years with a number of major banks and institutions as well as many private and listed industrial companies. He has held various executive and non-executive directorships/chairmanships, including finance director and non-executive director of Signature Restaurants PLC, where he was involved in the refinancing and growth of the business via acquisition. As senior non-executive director, he negotiated the management buy-out of Signature Restaurants led by its chairman, Luke Johnson. He has acted as a consultant to Minoan since May 2005, and joined the Board in 2006.


Geoffrey Brown, Project Director, aged 58

Mr Brown has over 35 years experience in construction and property development in the UK and overseas. Ashgate Development Services Limited, of which he is chairman, has managed several high profile developments, including the award winning regeneration of central Coventry which was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, the UK’s premier architectural award. He was managing director of the development management division of Speyhawk and previously he worked for Alfred McAlpine and HBG in the Middle East and Nigeria. He joined the Board in 2005. He has extensive experience in managing large schemes and of particular relevance to the Project are his previous involvements with the Riffa Golf and Leisure Complex in Bahrain, the Courland Bay Resort in Tobago and Campo de Mar in Majorca. He has also been involved in various luxury hotel/ residential projects in the UK, including Lucknam Park, a member of Relais Chateaux.


Timothy Hill, Operations Director, aged 59

Mr Hill is a director of the Project Management Division of WT Partnership (which provides services to Minoan), one of the world’s largest quantity surveying and project management companies. He is a registered architect with more than 30 years international experience in Europe, Africa and Asia, and has worked either as an architect and/or project manager on a variety of commercial, industrial and governmental projects, specialising in hotel and leisure developments. Relevant projects include the Pine Cliffs golf resort in Portugal, the Pemberton resort in St Thomas in the British Virgin Islands, St James Beach hotels in Barbados and the Sandyport Marina Development in Nassau, Bahamas. He joined the Group in 1993.


Duncan Wilson, Non-Executive Director, Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit Committee, aged 49

Mr Wilson is a travel professional with over 25 years experience and an in-depth knowledge of the leisure industry. He was previously a main board director of My Travel plc, formerly known as Airtours, a £3 billion turnover company, prior to which he was CEO of Direct Holidays PLC. During his five year tenure at Direct Holidays the profits tripled and it was then sold it to Airtours for over £80 million. In 1991 he was part of a group which acquired leading independent resort estate agents, Beach Villas, which was sold to Thomas Cook in 1997. He joined the Board in 2006.


Grahame Cook, Non-Executive Director, member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees, aged 50

Mr Cook, a Chartered Accountant, has held a number of senior executive positions. These include most recently his role as Chief Executive at WestLB Panmure, until 2003, where he was responsible for all global functions and the expansion and development of WestLB Panmure’s business. Prior to this he spent three years at UBS as a managing director where he was on the Global Investment Banking Management Committee. He was also a director of Barclays de Zoete Wedd. He was a founding member of the London Stock Exchange techMARK Advisory Council and currently holds various other non-executive positions including Antisoma PLC (Official List), Sinclair Pharma Plc (Official List and Euronext) and Non-Executive Vice Chairman of US/European investment bank Moore Clayton & Co. He joined the Board in 2006.


Charles Young, Non-Executive Director, Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee, aged 55

Mr Young spent 18 years with the British Linen Bank, which was the merchant banking subsidiary of Bank of Scotland, including six years as a corporate finance director and a further five as managing director of the bank’s investment banking department. He left in 1997 to pursue private business interests and became a partner of Christopher Egleton in Sutherland Associates at that time. Since September 2002 he has held the position of joint managing director of E G Thomson (Holdings) Limited, a private investment holding company with a range of interests including shipping agency, logistics, property management, travel agency and private equity investment. He joined the Group in 1998.

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