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Amanda Staveley, whose fashion model mother was an international show jumper and who was herself a promising athlete as a teenager, was brought up by her grandparents near Doncaster. Several of the Cambridge University graduate's early business ventures after expanding beyond Stocks fared badly, despite her claimed first million by the time she was 24.

In 1996 she persuaded a bank manager to lend her £180k to set up her restaurant near Newmarket, where she met many wealthy financiers from around the world and especially the Gulf region.

In 2009 the new owner of Manchester City FC, who is the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the biggest of the United Arab Emirates, and his advisers spent two weeks negotiating with Amanda before tying up a deal that was heralded with a £32.6m statement of intent in the shape of City's acquisition of the Brazilian striker Robinho for a British record fee.

She has also turned down a proposal from Prince Andrew.

The Independent reported: "Amanda is known and trusted by her contacts in the Gulf like almost no other non-Arab. She has spent a decade building that relationship. She tells things as they are and has a clarity of purpose that they appreciate. When the call came from Sheikh Mansour's representatives it would have been in no small part due to the fact that they knew they were dealing with Amanda."




Thanks to Richard Beresford for suggesting Amanda.

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