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Millionaire buys both ends of the country

Rebecca Fowler
Tuesday 14 May 1996 23:02 BST
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The top and bottom ends of Britain have been bought back from foreign hands by a multi-millionaire businessman from Manchester, who plans to transform Land's End and John o' Groats into greater tourist attractions.

The two extremities in Scotland and Cornwall were bought for pounds 6m as a private investment by Kevin Leech, a shy business angel who has turned a modest inheritance from his father's undertaking business into a fortune in three decades.

Mr Leech, whose biggest holdings are in the pharmaceutical and leisure industries, bought the plots from Gulf Resources Pacific, a New Zealand property company. They had previously been owned by Peter de Savary, the flamboyant entrepreneur.

Mr Leech, who lives in Jersey while remaining a loyal Manchester United supporter, said: "My aspiration for both these best-known British landmarks is to further raise the quality of the operations and increase the visitor's experience."

The two sites already have established tourist businesses, with a combined turnover of pounds 3.5m, and they employ 200 people. Land's End has 500,000 visitors each year and John o' Groats has 250,000.

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