Peter Swann


Peter Swann is British businessman and the current chairman of Scunthorpe United Football Club, having taken over from the retiring Steve Wharton in 2013.

Football chairman

Gainsborough Trinity

He became chairman of Gainsborough Trinity in October 2008. During his time at the Lincolnshire club, he is believed to have invested £1.5 million.

Scunthorpe United

He became chairman of Scunthorpe United during the 2013 pre-season, seeing off competition from Sheffield-based boxing promoter Dennis Hobson for the post. He sacked manager Brian Laws following the first-round FA Cup defeat to local rivals Grimsby Town. In 2015, he said of his takeover: "We picked up a club with no systems in place, it was run as a hobby and that is what we have cleared up. There were no records in several departments, no invoices, no purchase ledger, no structure and certainly no leadership at key levels and it has been a huge job to try and achieve."
Swann currently holds an 87.5% stake in the club.
In December 2013, he spoke of his intent to construct a new stadium for Scunthorpe by as early as 2015. The club are scheduled to move in to the new ground for the start of the 2016-2017 English football season.
Under his direction, Scunthorpe waived shirt sponsorship money and allowed the charity Prostate Cancer UK to have their name and logo displayed on the front of the team's shirts, to help raise awareness of the disease during the 2015-2016 season. The charity's director of fundraising said he was "incredibly grateful" to Swann and his family for their support in an "exciting project".

Business

He is the owner of Cool Fun Ltd, which operates the Sands live music venue in Blackpool. His wife Karin is joint-chairman of the Wilkinson Hardware Stores chain and is the granddaughter of its founder.
His family fortune was estimated by the Sunday Times at £340 million in 2013.

Personal life

He is married to Karin Swann who was formerly a part owner of Wilko. In May 2012, he had a suspected brain haemorrhage. In October 2013, he said it has not "cleared up totally" but that he was "ninety-five percent".
He is interested in golf and horse racing, owning a number of racehorses.