‘Bid for everything, always haggle’: The life and times of John F Hunt’s John Hall

By Dave Rogers2024-09-16T06:00:00

The founder of the specialist contractor turned 75 over the summer. He tells Dave Rogers about nearly going under, having the gift of the gab and why he did well out of the Cardiff Millennium Stadium

John Hall remembers where he was when he told his bank manager to go and do one.

His demolition business, John F Hunt, had just lost £2m on a £1m scheme, a strip out at a building called Park House at Finsbury Circus in the City of London.

He was already under special measures from NatWest, his bank at the time, who were putting the squeeze on him further. He had just won a job, a scheme to demolish Mondial House, then the main telecoms hub in central London, and he was explaining to his bank manager that he could see a way out in the next few months if only he would stand by him.

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