Chek Whyte

Chek Whyte (born Anthony Beardsley on 14 May 1964) is a British property developer and businessman, living in Nottinghamshire.
Career
Anthony Beardsley was born on 14 May 1964. He attended Bennerley School in Ilkeston and lived at 32 Beresford Drive in Cotmanhay, until he was 15 years old. At 16 he started work on a Youth Training Scheme as an asphalter and lived in Ilkeston. Aged 22, he started his own business as a groundworker, but struggled, as he was dyslexic, colour blind, and could hardly read or write. Within 18 months he was employing 300 staff, but the company he worked for didn't pay him, which sent him bankrupt. This happened again later on in his early career.
In 2002 he became a Christian and built the Trent Vineyard Church's building in Lenton Lane, Nottingham. He restored and redeveloped Bunny Hall from 2002 (his family home, which was put up for sale in October 2009), Colwick Hall in 2003, and Clifton Hall in 2006. In 2006-8 he restored Lenton Lodge, a Gatehouse to Wollaton Hall, which then became the offices of Global Fire Systems Ltd. In 2007 he purchased Stanford Hall through his company Chek Whyte Industries, with plans to build a £60m retirement village within the grounds.
In 2007 Whyte appeared on TV's "Secret Millionaire" during Season 2, in which he visited Salford, where he contributed to a number of good causes.
He became the majority shareholder of Ilkeston Town F.C. in the summer of 2008 after buying the club for £1 following the death of Paul Millership. In the summer of 2009 he transferred the shares to his young son following his bankruptcy and on 26 March 2010, Ilkeston Town were taken over by Gary Hodder, meaning Chek Whyte was no longer involved with the club.
Whyte was at one point a multi-millionaire, making his money in the construction industry. However he was declared bankrupt in September 2009, with over £30m in debt.
Bankruptcy (2009)
On 10 July 2009 both the Nottingham Evening Post and the Derby Evening Telegraph reported that Whyte was £30m in debt. He applied for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, seeking to renegotiate his debt and promising that he would repay all his creditors in full. However, on 2 September 2009, he was declared bankrupt in a Manchester court, following a petition by one of his unpaid suppliers.
This was not his first bankruptcy; he stated in 2008 that "I'm really known now for buying companies in receivership. I went bankrupt years ago. I've gone through the treadmill. I know what happened there. As long as you learn from your mistakes you move forward."

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