People want what they want, billionaires get it! Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a case in point as an 18-month planning battle after a neighbor row over beehives and a tennis court has ended, in his favor, of course. The 71-year-old founder and majority owner of Ineos, worth $19.5 billion, was accused of turning his seven-acre waterside property in Hampshire’s New Forest into an industrial site. Two huge barns, a tennis court, and a pergola seemed like a lot of work to the common man for something as simple as honey.
However, when you are a business magnate with companies in 29 continents and over 26,000 employees, and a revenue of about $65 billion, you don’t go for store-bought honey. The planning documents submitted by his agent also clearly stated, ‘The applicant places very great value on home-produced garden produce and as part of this, he has commenced beekeeping at the site and has established a number of beehives in order to supply himself and his family with honey.
Whilst beehives are distributed within the surrounding grounds, the beekeeping activities also necessitate the provision of an indoor storage area for the processing of honey and the storage of beekeeping equipment.’ The massive estate also flaunts a seven-acre garden which would require sizable equipment, storage, and materials used by garden staff. After over a year, the Red Devils supremo has finally been granted planning permission for the honey-making facility that will fuel his apiary dreams in his $7.5 million holiday home.
