Winning smile: Paul Gregg at the Icon Awards 2023, where he won for his contribution to entertainment
Impresario Paul Gregg is the founder of the Apollo Leisure Group which he turned into one of the UK’s leading live entertainment businesses, writes York Membery.
The 82-year-old grew up in a council house in Yorkshire but went on to become the boss of a business that included iconic venues such as London’s Lyceum and Dominion theatres, which have staged hit shows including The Lion King and Grease.
The father of four, who sold the Apollo Leisure Group for more than £150million in 1999, went on to be part-owner of Everton football club from 2000-2006.
Gregg, who has just published a memoir, lives in South Kensington with his third wife, Yoshiko.
What did your parents teach you about money?
I was a war baby and didn’t meet my father, Kenneth, a corporal in the Green Howards, until I was nearly five, in 1946. He spent a few years as a POW.
On his return to civvy street he was an engineer and, while reasonably paid, money was tight.
I grew up in council houses in Scarborough and Hull, one of three (my siblings are now dead) and close to my mother, Joan. My parents instilled in me a determination to be the best at whatever I did, be it a binman or postman.
Sadly, Mum never recovered from giving birth to a stillborn baby in her late 30s and died of renal failure aged 42.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
I used the £500 deposit on a house I was buying with my second wife, Nita, to fund a concert in Sheffield. Ticket sales were dreadful, but we were legally obliged to go ahead with the concert so lost the deposit. Thankfully, the Midland Bank agreed to lend us the £500 we needed to complete the purchase otherwise we’d have been in a real pickle.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
My fellow Apollo directors and I, along with the concert producer, shared in a seven-figure dividend after promoting Michael Jackson’s Bad tour in Britain in 1987. He played seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium and more than a million people saw him on the UK leg.
But my biggest payday came after Nita and I sold the Apollo Leisure Group to the US giant SFX for more than £150million in 1999. I now view that as my worst ever business decision – if we’d hung on to all our assets for a decade the company would have been valued at around half a billion pounds.
What was the best year of your financial life?
The year I look back on with most pride is 1996 when Prince (now King) Charles attended the newly-restored Lyceum Theatre to see our first show, Jesus Christ Superstar. I’d bought the venue for £1million in 1993 and we’d spent £14million refurbishing it. Some people said we [the Apollo Leisure Group] were mad for spending so much but it’s played host to The Lion King for 25 years. Whenever I walk past the building I feel a sense of quiet satisfaction.
The most expensive thing you’ve bought for fun?
I’ve owned a couple of Bentleys over the years – but the motor that has given me the most enjoyment is my used Porsche Cayenne which cost £30,000 in 2014. It’s safe to drive but has real ‘oomph’, and I can leave it outside our apartment – it won’t be stolen because it’s ten years old.
Beat it: Michael Jackson on the Bad tour in 1987
What is your biggest money mistake?
Staging Camelot at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London, in the early 1980s. Richard Harris demanded £40,000 a week (£175,000 today) to appear as Arthur, but the critics hated the show. There was a slump in ticket sales and we had to close the show after ten weeks. Our losses were £750,000. Being one of the joint owners of Everton also turned out to be a bumpy ride, but I still emerged with a profit on my £7.5million investment.
Best money decision you have made?
Buying our first venue, the Apollo Manchester, in 1977. The money poured in and enabled us to buy a string of other venues such as the Hammersmith Apollo.
Earlier on, booking Morecambe and Wise – who insisted on separate dressing rooms – to appear at Southport Theatre in the mid-’70s. They may have demanded 95 per cent of the box office takings but I learnt that if you spend big on talent you usually recoup the money.
Do you have a pension?
Only a state pension, but we sold the Apollo Leisure Group for a lot of money so I’m not broke.
Do you own any property?
A three-bedroom flat in South Kensington, which I bought for £4.5million in 2012. The area has changed over the years, but it’s close to the West End and is safe.
If you were Chancellor what would you do?
Put a tax on online purchases. The internet is killing the high street – people see a product in a shop and then just buy it online.
What is your number one financial priority?
To ensure that when I’m gone my wife enjoys the same standard of living she has today.
- Backstage Without A Pass by Paul Gregg is published by White Fox on April 25, priced £24.99.
