Talk:Andy Ruhan

Rewrite of lead and addition of legal proceedings (BLP/NPOV/V)

I have replaced the lead and career text and added a "Legal proceedings" section. Reasons:

Problems with the previous version

• The second lead paragraph was unsourced and closely matches the subject's Crunchbase profile. It reads as a self-published biography rather than an encyclopaedic summary.
• Its claim of an Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year 2001" award is unverifiable. He does not appear among EY's World winners, but that list has one winner a year and does not include regional or national winners, so I can neither confirm nor refute it. I have removed it as unsourced.
• The "37 Thistle Hotels" sentence was inaccurate. Foxton J records at [37]–[39] of HPII v Ruhan [2022] EWHC 383 (Comm) that Orb bought 37 hotels from Thistle in 2002 and sold HPII (owner of 32 of them) to companies controlled by Ruhan in 2003.
• The article said nothing about the court findings that make up most of the coverage of him.
• "Took control of the team" (Lotus F1) was unsupported. Foxton J describes him as co-chair. I also removed categories I could not support (24H Series, British GT, F1 team owners) and dead references.

Sourcing Statements about court findings are attributed to the court that made them, with paragraph pinpoints, and cite the judgments alongside secondary coverage (Law360, Macfarlanes, Cooley, 1 Hare Court, Bisnow, Lightwave). I know the policy prefers secondary sources for claims about living people, so I would welcome help finding independent press coverage for the findings on his evidence in particular.

Balance I have included the points that favour the subject: the hotels were sold at market value; he did not appeal the 2022 judgment; the Court of Appeal's no-loss ruling (later reversed by the Supreme Court in Stevens's case); Mostyn J's findings that the assets Smith took beneficially belonged to Ruhan and that the Orb claims were spurious and abusive; and Popplewell J's criticism of the Orb parties. There are three short quotations from judgments. I have not implied any criminal conviction, and I have left out allegations that no court has decided.

If any statement goes beyond its cited source, please say which and I will correct or remove it. I am also happy to trim the quotations. [Disclose any connection here, or state that you have none.] ~2026-51138-68 (talk) 14:07, 21 September 2026 (UTC) ~2026-51138-68 (talk) 14:07, 21 September 2026 (UTC)

I am Andrew Ruhan, the subject of this article. Because of my conflict of interest (WP:COI) I won't edit it myself, so I am asking for uninvolved editors to look at the requests below. They concern me, a living person so WP:BLP applies.

The editor's disclosure line above still reads "[Disclose any connection here, or state that you have none.]" Please complete it and state whether you have any connection to, or paid relationship with, any party to these legal proceedings.

I am not asking for the legal material to be removed. I have four requests.

1. Heading and 2024 Judgment (WP:NPOV and WP:BLP)

- The heading "Collusion with Gerald Smith" summarises a court finding in Wikipedia's voice

- The text already attributes it to the finding of the judge, but the headline states it as a fact.

- Please amend it to something more neutral for example "2024 High Court Judgment"

- Readers should also know the trial was undefended, the defendants (Marlborough Developments, Ozturk 2 Recoveries and Dr Smith) and the Ozturk claimants had been debarred and did not take part in the trial ([2024] EWHC 3075 (Comm), [13])

- I was not debarred and was not a party to HPII's claim. In the related Ozturk proceedings I filed no evidence, but I told the court I would accept the set aside without any argument ([15]-[16])

Please replace "Ruhan did not attend the trial" with the following: Ruhan was not a party to HPII's claim. In the related proceedings he filed no evidence and did not attend the trial, but told the court he would not oppose the application to set aside the default judgment.

2. Hotel Portfolio II (WP:BLP, WP:NPOV)

- This section mentions the "fair market price" but leaves out the findings that go with it.

- HPII went into liquidation in 2008 and was subsequently dissolved ([2025] UKSC 28, [16]; [2022] EWHC 383 (Comm), [143]). It was restored to the register by court order in 2015, on the application of its former liquidator, and continued in creditors' voluntary liquidation (County Court at Central London, Claim no 3211 of 2015; filed at Companies House 22nd July 2015) https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04379118/filing-history. The claim was brought by HPII and its liquidator in 2018 ([2024] EWHC 3075 (Comm), [146])

- HPII had stopped trading and was being wound down at the time ([2022] EWHC 1695 (Comm) [43 (i)])

- The sale followed an open marketing exercise. HPII's loan terms required the Lancaster Gate Hotel to be sold once planning permission was granted, and the marketing was then extended to all three hotels. The other shareholders authorised a sale above £125m ([2022] EWHC 383 (Comm), [45]-[49]; [2025] UKSC 28,[12]).

- The Supreme Court recorded that HPII received full market value, would not have sold for more or developed the hotels itself, and never claimed the purchase or on-sale caused any loss ([2025] UKSC 28, [1], [17]).

- HPII's conspiracy claim was dismissed ([2022] EWHC 383 (Comm),[255]-[256]).

Please add at the start of the section: HPII went into liquidation in 2008. After being restored to the register in 2015 on the application of its former liquidator, HPII and its liquidator sued Ruhan in 2018.

3. Dispute with Gerald Smith (WP:BLP, WP: NPOV)

(a) Guilty plea date.

- "Who had pleaded guilty" makes it sound as if Dr Smith had pleaded guilty before the 2003 sale. He pleaded guilty in April 2006 ([2017] EWHC 2739 (Fam), [7]). The same editor corrected this in his article so it should also be reflected here.

Please change it to "who had stolen from Izodia plc and later pleaded guilty".

(b) Outcomes missing

- The section gives the allegations but not the outcomes.

After "Ruhan disputed this and counterclaimed.", please add "Mostyn J later found that no such agreement had been made." ([2017] EWHC 2739 (Fam), [27])

- The article quotes Cooke J's criticism of my original defence ([2015] EWHC 262 (Comm), [80]), but not what he went on to decide in the same judgment.

- He took account of my explanation and apology and let me pursue my counterclaim ([100]), it was accepted I had realistic prospects on it ([62]), found the Orb claimants had already recovered more than their best prospective entitlement ([47]), and noted that their bankruptcy applications against me had been dismissed as oppressive ([57]).

- In March 2015 he also granted me a freezing order of up to £67.3m against the Orb claimants, Dr Cochrane and SMA ([2021] EWHC 1272 (Comm), [98]).

After the sentence ending "...'misleading and deliberately so'." please add "Cooke J nonetheless allowed Ruhan to pursue his counterclaim, noting his explanation and apology, and found that the Orb claimants had already recovered more than their best prospective entitlement. He also noted that bankruptcy applications brought against Ruhan at their instigation had been dismissed as oppressive. In March 2015 he granted Ruhan a worldwide freezing order of up to £67.3 million against the Orb claimants and related parties."

(c) Isle of Man Settlement

- The phrase "which Mostyn J later described as an appropriation by Smith" is an understatement. After a seven-week trial, Foxton J held that the Isle of Man Settlement was a fraudulent breach of trust by my former lawyers Cooper and McNally, done without my approval and for their own benefit with Dr Smith the moving force ([2021] EWHC 1272 (Comm), [208]-[212]).

Please replace the phrase with which Foxton J held in May 2021 to be a fraudulent breach of trust, made without Ruhan's approval, with Smith the moving force behind it.

4. Career (WP:DUE)

- The career section covers Global Switch, Global Marine, Sentrum and Lotus F1 but misses a few sourced points.

Please add at the start of the section: Ruhan co-founded the Midlands property developer Kingspark, which was sold to ProLogis in 1998. [1][2][3]

After "....sold stakes in it to Chelsfield in 2000 and 2002" please add Property Week described him as one of the first to bring the "carrier hotel" to Britain. [1] From 2002 he was also the chairman of the US hosting company NaviSite. [4]

After "....generating a surplus of about £220 million." please add The sale, of three London-area data centres for about £715 million, was the largest UK property deal of 2012. [5][6]

In place of "He has also raced sports cars." Please replace with He has also raced sports cars, winning the 2011 GT Cup Championship [7] and competing in the British GT Championship. [8]

After "...until Renault bought the team back in December 2015." please add In January 2014 he also became a partner in the investment firm Genii Capital. [2]

Sources:

[1] https://www.propertyweek.com/archive/the-master-switch

[2] https://www.cityam.com/city-moves-20-january-2014-who-s-switching-jobs/

[3] https://paperjam.lu/article/carriere-andrew-ruhan

[4] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001084750/000095013507006925/b67282nsdef14a.htm

[5] https://www.propertyweek.com/markets/industrial-logistics/sentrums-715m-digital-data-deal

[6] https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/digital-realty-buys-sentrum-portfolio/

[7] https://gtcup.co.uk/overall-champions

[8] https://brscc.co.uk/lamborghini-ford-join-silverstone-showdown/

NOTE: The same temporary account rewrote this article on 21 September 2026 and the Gerald Smith article the next day (contributions Special:Contributions/~2026-51138-68), Smith talk page: Talk:Gerald Martin Smith. As both articles concern the same dispute, I would like these requests to be reviewed by editors who were not involved in either rewrite.

Thank you and I am happy to discuss any of this AndrewRuhan (talk) 17:50, 28 September 2026 (UTC)

References