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Jimi Heselden

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Jimi Heselden
OBE
Born
James William Heselden

(1948-03-27)27 March 1948
Leeds, England
Died26 September 2010(2010-09-26) (aged 62)
Thorp Arch, England
OccupationEntrepreneur
Years activec. 1985–2010
Known forChairman of Hesco Bastion Ltd

James William "Jimi" Heselden OBE (27 March 1948 – 26 September 2010) was an English entrepreneur.[1][2] A former coal miner, he became wealthy by manufacturing the Hesco bastion barrier system. In 2009, he bought Segway Inc. He died in 2010 from injuries sustained falling from a cliff while riding his own Segway PT.

Early life

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James William Heselden was born in the Halton Moor district of Leeds on 27 March 1948. He attended school in Osmondthorpe, leaving at the age of 15 to work as a labourer and then at collieries in Temple Newsam and Lofthouse.[2] He lost his job in the wave of redundancies that followed the 1980s miners' strike; he spent his redundancy money on renting a workshop, and initially set up a sandblasting business.[2] He then worked on developing and patenting a collapsible wire mesh and fabric container, later called the Hesco bastion, to be used for building flood management and to limit erosion.

Career

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Members of the U.S. military assembling Hesco bastions

In 1989, Heselden founded Hesco Bastion Ltd to manufacture containers of the same name;[3] filled with sand or earth, they quickly found favour with the armies of several countries, as they allowed effective blast walls, barriers and revetments to be quickly constructed. Made in Hesco's factory in Leeds, these were shipped (flat-packed) in great numbers to conflict zones, including Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan,[citation needed] as well as later being used for flood defences at New Orleans.[2] He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, "for services to the Defence industry and to Charity."[3][4]

On Christmas day 2009, Heselden purchased the Segway company.[5] He had owned the company for only nine months at the time of his accidental death while using a Segway.[6]

Philanthropy

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In 2008, Heselden donated £1.5 million to the Help For Heroes fund through a charity auction bid for nine people to fly with the Red Arrows.[7] Heselden said, "There are people out there who are making money and when times are good I honestly believe people have a moral obligation to use their wealth to help others."[7] Also in 2008, Heselden contributed £10 million to setting up the Leeds Community Foundation; he would later donate an additional £13 million.[8]

Death

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On the morning of 26 September 2010, Heselden was riding his Segway while walking his dog near Thorp Arch; when he reversed the Segway to allow a fellow dog walker to get past him, he fell from a nearby cliff into the River Wharfe.[8][9] A "rugged country version" of a Segway was found in the water.[6][10] The coroner concluded that Heselden had died of "multiple blunt force injuries of the chest and spine consistent with a fall whilst riding a gyrobike".[11] His estate, bequeathed to his widow and family, was worth over £340 million and he was ranked in the top 400 members of the Sunday Times Rich List.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Segway boss Jimi Heselden dies in scooter cliff fall". BBC. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d Wainwright, Martin (30 September 2010). "Jimi Heselden obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b Fortson, Danny; Beresford, Philip (21 December 2008). "Ex-miner blasts salary to £25m". The Sunday Times.
  4. ^ "No. 58014". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2006. p. 11.
  5. ^ Trenholm, Richard. "Segway bought by Chinese rival Ninebot". CNET.
  6. ^ a b "Segway boss Jimi Heselden dies in scooter cliff fall". BBC News. 27 September 2010.
  7. ^ a b Freeman, Sarah (18 September 2010). "The man who gave £23m of his fortune to charity". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  8. ^ a b Childs, Martin (1 October 2010). "Jimi Heselden: Miner who used his redundancy money to become a". The Independent. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Appeal: Death of James Heselden". West Yorkshire Police. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Segway company owner rides scooter off cliff, dies". NBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2022. A British businessman, who bought the Segway company less than a year ago, died after riding one of the scooters off a cliff and into a river near his Yorkshire estate.
  11. ^ "Inquest into Segway head's death". BBC News. 4 October 2010.
  12. ^ "BBC News: Segway boss leaves £340m to his wife and family". 19 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
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