Bernard Sunley

Bernard Sunley (4 November 1910 – 20 November 1964) was a British property developer. He was the founder of Bernard Sunley & Sons.

Biography Sunley was born on 4 November 1910, in Catford. He was the son of John Sunley, a florist and fruiterer, and was educated at St Ann's School in Hanwell in Ealing. After leaving school at the age of fourteen, he hired a horse and cart to move earth, and then went into the landscape gardening business. One of his first major contracts was re-laying the pitch at Highbury for Arsenal FC. They had two daughters and a son.

From earth-moving, Sunley moved into the open-cast mining business. In 1940, he founded Bernard Sunley & Sons. He subsequently "ranked alongside the most successful property developers of the 1950s property boom".

Sunley campaigned as a Conservative Party candidate for Ealing West in 1945, but was unsuccessful.

Sunley established the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation in 1960 with a pledge of £300,000 worth of shares. As of 2011, it had made grants of more than £92 million. His grandson is Richard Tice, a businessman and deputy leader of Reform UK.

Bernard Sunley Hall, named after him, is a hall of residence for Imperial College London students at 40–44 Evelyn Gardens.