A Dragon’s French Riviera lair revealed
Friday, May 28th, 2010Dragon’s Den judge Duncan Bannatyne is famed for his quick dismissal of hopeless business ideas but the multi-millionaire, Clydebank-born entrepreneur recently revealed a softer side during an interview with A Place in the Sun magazine at his holiday home near Cannes in France.
Dunan Bannatyne at his villa near Cannes in France
Bannatyne first visited the area in the early noughties and, after selling his first company, bought a property in Le Cannet, a northerly suburb of Cannes. He and wife Joanne then sold this property in 2005 and bought their current French holiday home for €4 million in Mougins, a 15 minute drive from the coast in the hills above Cannes.
Bannatyne is not alone in his desire to have a French Riviera des res – neighbours he’s dropped in for dinner at include political commentator Andrew Neil, Deal or No Deal presenter Noel Edmonds (who lives near Grasse) and co-Dragon James Caan who owns an apartment on La Croisette, Canne’s most fashionable central quarter.
Duncan Bannatyne at his villa in the hills above Cannes in France
Bannatyne uses the house for regular breaks with his family as well as a big party for friends and family on New Year’s Eve – although one spanner in the works is that there aren’t flights from Newcastle during the low-season (he has homes in both Wynyard, near Newcastle and central London when in the UK).
This stumbling block is no matter for millionaires – Bannatyne instead charters a small plane to get there.
So what’s life like when Bannatyne’s playing the easy-going expat in France? He says his days are mostly spent walking up to Mougins village to buy papers, relaxing around the pool, checking emails and twittering online.
But life is about to get more frenetic for the canny Scot. One of his daughters from his first marriage, is tying the knot in Cannes next month.
