Reform donor tied to £16m of property in Guernsey

Reform UK's largest donor has been linked to more than £16m of property and land in Guernsey including the site of a former seafront restaurant that burnt down.

Records examined by the BBC show British-Thai businessman Christopher Harborne is linked to seven properties, several plots of land, private jets and an aircraft hangar development at Guernsey Airport.

The most recent transaction linked to Harborne is the £2.5m sale of the former Octopus restaurant site in St Peter Port, which was destroyed in a large fire in February 2024.

The BBC asked Harborne's lawyers whether he was behind the purchase but did not receive a response.

In March 2024 Guernsey Police said they found no evidence of foul play and closed their investigation into the cause of the blaze at the restauraunt site.

The site was subsequently sold for £1 by its then owner deputy Yvonne Burford who passed the land to restaurant owners Delphine Pesrin-Auder and Mickael Pesrin.

Since the fire the site has remained one of the most visible empty plots on the island's seafront.

But a copy of the conveyance deeds submitted to the States of Guernsey and reviewed by the BBC shows it was sold in July 2026 for £2.555m to Marbel Leopard Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

The change of ownership letter lists Marbel Leopard at the same BVI address as other companies that have held properties previously bought by Harborne.

The correspondence contact listed by Marbel Leopard is Rumrada Suppadit, who works for Harborne's company Sherriff Global Private Limited.

She also sits on the board of Kamalaya, his wellness resort on the Thai island of Koh Samui, according to business database dataforthai.

Harborne's lawyers was asked by the BBC whether he was behind the purchase and about redevelopment plans but did not respond.

In September Harborne announced he was giving £36m to Reform UK, matching a record-breaking donation made a day earlier by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo.

They were the largest donations ever given to a UK political party - and Harborne wrote in the Telegraph he expected "nothing personally" in return.

Harborne has previously made other donations to Reform, the Brexit Party and the Conservatives.

The billionaire also gave Nigel Farage a £5m gift in 2024, which is subject to a parliamentary standards investigation.

The Guernsey properties identified by the BBC as linked to Harborne had a combined transaction value of more than £16m, which was calculated using purchase prices recorded in conveyance deeds and cadastre reports.

Away from the Guernsey seafront, the trail leads uphill to Hauteville, a road in St Peter Port, famous for the home of 19th Century French author Victor Hugo.

Conveyance deeds and planning applications submitted to the States of Guernsey connect Harborne and companies linked to him to three neighbouring properties.

Two of the properties were bought in his own name and he later transferred one to a BVI company for £1.

The third was bought through a company registered in the US state of Wyoming, where company ownership can be difficult to establish from public records.

Planning application documents for one of the properties list Sherriff Global Private Limited as the architect's client. The formal planning permission names the Wyoming company as applicant.

The application stands out for what is proposed inside the house, with drawings showing an office and an eight-person boardroom.

Below ground there is a wellness suite with a hyperbaric chamber, sauna and cold plunge.

A lift, step-free access and disabled access bathrooms is also proposed.

The planning applications show the property was designed around long-term personal use, beside two other properties also linked to Harborne.

In the proposals, the architect explained his client was an "avid exerciser" and wanted the property to be to be usable throughout their "entire lifespan".

The BBC asked his representatives whether he was planning to move to the Hauteville properties but received no response.

Harborne's Guernsey interests also sit alongside a wider aviation business network, with Guernsey Registry and conveyance deeds connecting him to Sundance Operations, formerly Sherriff Aviation.

Sundance has also been linked to the purchase of land and the development of two new hangars at Guernsey Airport.

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