2006: Norfolk Christian businessman Graham Dacre has sold East Anglia’s biggest motor retailer, Lind Automotive Group, for over £108 million.

 

Graham, aged 54, built up the dealership based in Norwich over 14 years after beginning in the car business working for first his grandfather and then his father.

 

The company, including 21 dealerships, was sold to international motor group Inchcape on May 4.

 

Graham was helped in developing the Lind business by the late Rev Robert Lind Gordon, of Proclaimers International, who was the group’s first chairman.

 

“Bob Gordon was one of the great influences in my life,” said Graham.

 

“We shared the same Christian faith and together we set out to prove that being a Christian didn’t mean we could not be successful in the corporate arena. My faith has dealt with my past, gives me purpose today and gives me hope for tomorrow.”

 

Graham, whose Christian and philanthropic views are well known, has been involved in a number of high profile community projects in and around Norwich. These include owning Drayton Hall and helping set up the life-saving SOS Bus project.

 

Graham, through his Lind Trust, is also the driving force behind the ambitious Open youth venue in the former Barclays bank office on Bank Plain in Norwich, which is run by his son Russ Dacre.

 

It aims to provide a safe haven for young people aged principally between 13 and 25, complete with a multi-purpose events hall, internet cyber café, specialist shops and coffee bar.

 

“This is not about a Christian resource centre,” said Graham. “It is a community youth project run by faith-based people.”

 

Graham has also jointly offered to provide £2 million along with the Diocese of Norwich, to fund a new city academy in Norwich, possibly at Heartsease High School.

Graham Dacre outside the Open venue.