£94m payday for tycoon who built empire from burger van

A SELF-made millionaire who started his business empire from a burger van yesterday cashed in on £94m worth of shares in the office firm he founded 30 years ago.

Mark Dixon, a globetrotting 57-year- old who once sold hotdogs after dropping out of school in Essex, dumped 27.3m shares in IWG, owner of Regus.

His move came amid speculation the FTSE 250 company was seeking a buyer, which sent shares soaring to record highs earlier this month.

Some analysts suspected the entrepreneur would take IWG private but Dixon’s move yesterday appeared to put these suggestions to bed. The sale put stocks on course for their worst day in a year, with prices falling 7.4pc, or 26.5p, to 333p a share. Dixon ( pictured) will still indirectly hold a stake worth 25pc of the company. He founded IWG, then called Regus, in Brussels in 1989, reportedly getting the idea while sitting in a cafe in the Belgian capital and noticing the lack of office space available to travelling business people as they were holding meetings at tables around him. So he decided to offer office space, and fitted out each office with fax machines – then cutting- edge technology. Their use at one stage accounted for one fifth of the company’s income. IWG’s offices across the world now include all the mod cons, from WiFi to video conferencing. Even Dixon himself is said to have shunned a permanent base, instead opting to work out of his briefcase. The father- of- five, who lives in Monaco, is also looking at new ventures after buying his first English vineyard in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Dixon has claimed the south of England could be a ‘ new frontier’ for wine. He already owns the 18th century Château De Berne estate in France, a luxurious hotel and spa resort which produces reds, whites and roses.