Billionaire racing idol saved PNE
OFTEN seen at race meetings with the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall, Trevor Hemmings was not an instantly recognisable figure but he was one of the country’s most astute businessmen and a huge supporter of the sport of kings.
Worth over £1billion, he was never showy with money, preferring to queue up with punters for a bag of chips than eat in the fine dining restaurants at racecourses.
One of his favourite venues was Aintree, where three of his horses won the Grand National in his famous green, yellow and white colours – Hedgehunter in 2005, Ballabriggs in 2011 and Many Clouds in 2015. Unsurprisingly, he was nicknamed Mr Aintree and known as a legend in jump racing.
With trainer Sue Smith he had 131 winners from more than 800 runners. “I’m very proud to have worn his iconic colours on many wonderful days,” tweeted jockey AP McCoy. “He was a great friend to many and an even a greater friend to our sport.”
Zara Tindall won a silver medal in the team equestrian event at the 2012 London Olympics on Hemmings’ horse High Kingdom.
Born in Woolwich, south east London, Trevor James Hemmings was five years old during the Blitz. When the Royal Ordnance munitions factory where his father worked was transferred to Chorley in Lancashire, the family moved to Leyland, near Preston.
As a schoolboy he was a workaholic with two paper rounds, a part-time petrol pump attendant job and a grocery round.
After leaving school at 15, Hemmings trained as a bricklayer while doing a night-school course in business studies.
In 1960, with £12 capital, he started house building company Hemmings and Ken, and sold it a decade later for £1.5million.
He formed a close friendship with entrepreneur Fred Pontin and built his Southport holiday camp in north west England. Hemmings led a management buyout of Pontins in 1987 and also helped bring Center Parcs to Britain.
He was a passionate football fan and became a director of Preston North End in the 1970s. In 2010 he bought a controlling stake in the club and was seen as its saviour.
For a time Hemmings was the largest shareholder in the brewery firm Scottish & Newcastle, and owned an ice-cream company as well as the wallpaper producer John Wilman.
He is survived by his wife Eve, whom he married in 1955, their daughter Carole and sons Peter, Craig and Patrick.