Who are Andy Bell and George Downing? Wealthy Everton supporters trying to takeover club

Andy Bell and George Downing have emerged as potential contenders in the battle to take control of Everton.

The pair are successful businessmen and Everton supporters who have been in the wider conversation around the club’s future for 12 months.

Bell’s Blythe Capital played a role in the Blues securing funding for the stadium development last year and both were prominent in MSP Sports Capital’s bid to take a 25% stake that could have been a foundation for further investment. While that failed, MSP still lent more than £150m to help Everton meet costs related to the Bramley-Moore Dock project.

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Now the pair are understood to be in discussions about spearheading a new bid to take control of the Blues from majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. Moshiri is on the hunt for an exit route once again after the collapse of a bid from 777 Partners marked the end of a third period of exclusive talks without resolution in two years.

Bell is the founder and former chief executive of the investment giant AJ Bell, which he led for two decades before stepping down in 2022. The 58-year-old businessman went to school in Rainford and studied at the University of Nottingham. An actuary by training, he is also behind the two Michelin-starred Moor Hall in Aughton.

Downing, 61, is the founder of Downing, a business that started in construction and has since expanded into property management and other areas. The firm has been involved in developing student accommodation schemes to the value of around £1bn. It is involved in projects from London to Newcastle and formerly took over the historic Port of Liverpool building, one of the city’s Three Graces, overseeing a multi-million pound restoration.

Bell and Downing are currently understood to be engaging with specialists as they consider external funding options that would enable them to front a bid for Everton. They were frontrunners for board positions in the first MSP deal after forming part of that effort.

Bell is listed as the sole director of a new vehicle called Toffee Ventures, a private company that was incorporated last month and is listed on Companies House as a business within the bracket of sports and recreation education.