Jonathan Silver (1949 - 1997) was an entrepreneur from Bradford, Yorkshire, England; he was responsible for the restoration of Salts Mill as a thriving cultural, retail, and commercial centre.
Silver was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1949; he was of German Jewish descent. He was a pupil at Bradford Grammar School[1] where he at first did not shine academically but enjoyed working on the school's magazine.[2] His interest in David Hockney's talent as an artist began to blossom and after they met at Silver's father's burger bar, Hockney agreed to design a cover for the school magazine.[2] Silver then studied Art History and Textiles at Leeds University.[2] [3]
While a student Silver exhibited entrepreneurial skills and spent his school lunch breaks at the local auction rooms buying and selling furniture. By 1979 he owned 13 menswear shops across the country[2] as well as a clothing factory, Noble Crest, and a shop called Art and Furniture in Manchester. In 1979 he sold his Jonathan Silver chain to the John Michael Group; he sold or closed most of his other businesses and began a partnership with his friend and supplier Sir Ernest Hall.
In 1983 Hall and Silver bought Dean Clough, a huge former carpet factory in Halifax, West Yorkshire; they began to regenerate it. They contributed equal shares, but the two men had very different business styles and Hall bought Silver out the next year.[3] According to Hall, Silver's main contribution at Dean Clough was opening and running a very successful bar called Crossley's, but Silver felt that he had contributed much more than that. Although they did not continue to work together, Hall and Silver remained close friends.[3]
Prior to buying Dean Clough, Hall and Silver bought C&J Hursts in Huddersfield, England.
After leaving Dean Clough and with the proceeds in his pocket, Silver travelled the world with his wife, Maggie, and their two young daughters.[1] Upon returning to England, Silver, looking for a new challenge, bought Salts Mill in 1987.[1] The mill was in a dilapidated state however Silver could see the building's potential, and transformed it into retail and commercial units as well as an art gallery.[4]
After Silver bought it among the first events he held were performances by IOU Theatre during the first Bradford Festival. He ran the bar during the festival and came up with the idea of creating a gallery which was devoted to David Hockney.[3] He created the 1853 gallery involving himself in the construction.[3] There have been many theatrical and musical performances since, in various parts of the mill, with Northern Broadsides notably making Salt's Mill one of their touring venues.[5] The mill has also housed a number of shops, run by Salt's and by independent operators and several businesses, most notably Pace plc.[3]
The work done by Jonathan Silver in bringing Salts Mill back to life has surely played a large part in Saltaire village becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 2001.
He and his wife, Maggie married in 1972,[2] they had two daughters, Zoë[4] and Davina.[1]
Jonathan Silver died of cancer in 1997.[1] [3]