Born in London in 1944 and educated at St Paul’s School. John started his career at Hillier Parker (now CBRE) in the early 1960s before moving on to become a partner at Barnet Baker (estate agents). In 1973 he acquired Pilcher Hershman & Partners. A decade later John acquired control of the Derwent Valley Light Railway Company (capitalised at £1.5m), restructuring it as Derwent Valley Holdings plc which - following the merger with London Merchant Securities plc in 2007 - became Derwent London plc.