Former Brierley Investments and Skellerup chief executive Murray Bolton has had a momentous 2018 as he revamps his Corporate Cabs fleet, moves closer to reopening the controversial Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary and seeks to expand his potentially lucrative global payments business.
Having owned a 67% stake in Corporate Cabs since 1999, Bolton has taken the radical step of replacing the familiar Holden Calais with a fleet of 400 Skodas now on order from the Giltrap Group. According to Corporate Cabs chief executive Colin Sampson the Skoda Superb matches the luxury and space of the current car, including the leg room, head room and boot space “as well as looking really smart and having clean lines to give our 25-year-old brand a lift.”
Change is also afoot at the 32ha Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary in Northland which Bolton acquired from ‘Lion Man’ Craig Busch. Closed for several years, the troubled park and its population of 30 lions and other big cats is inching closer to re-opening this summer once enclosures are brought up to government regulatory standards.
However, most of Bolton’s attention is likely to be directed to the London-based Transaction Services Group (TSG) in which he has a 47.25%, following a 2015 restructure that valued the business at $300m.
Recognised as an innovative payments processor, TSG generated revenues of $A83m and a net profit of $A3m in 2017 by processing and collecting direct debits from more than two million customers in Australasia and the UK. While its strength is in the health and fitness sector, TSG is looking to expand into other market segments in the US, Europe and Asia, which it says will provide an opportunity for future growth in the medium term.
Among Bolton’s property interests are two residences in Remuera valued at $8.4m and $5.8m plus a holiday home in the far north at Tutukaka. However, his new home is the former convent and boutique hotel called Mollies in Herne Bay, which has been renovated at great expense and has enough room to house his expensive collection of guitars.
A long-time friend of businessman Laurie Margrain, Bolton’s other personal interests include a 40% stake in the Blues Rugby franchise and he also chairs the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust where he has fought tirelessly for additional funding for almost three decades.
Photo: New Zealand Herald/newspix.co.nz