UK's 'first asylum housing billionaire' used wealth to woo Latvian

A caravan park boss tipped to become Britain's first asylum housing billionaire used his fortune to rebrand as an amateur racing driver after whisking a glamorous Latvian businesswoman 18 years his junior on a string of romantic holidays, MailOnline can reveal.

Essex tycoon Graham King, 57, whose firm Clearsprings made nearly £120million in profit last year by housing refugees for the Home Office, wooed Lolita Lace, 39, with fine dining and horse riding trips in the Caribbean after splitting with his wife Karin, 60.

Ms Lace, who is understood to have moved into Mr King's Mayfair flat in 2017, was first pictured with her new squeeze in a 2015 TripAdvisor review he left about their November holiday in Antigua and Barbuda.

The review, which included several images of Ms Lace showing off her enviable figure in a striking red bikini, praised a local riding club for a 'wonderful experience' that saw them swim in the sea with their horses.

'Wow what an experience', he wrote. 'We rode them in bareback and when they started swimming we were basically floating, then changed to laying flat whilst holding on to their manes, this was something we won't forget in a hurry!!! Ride here you'll love it.'

Another image of a bikini-clad Ms Lace cosying up to a horse stated simply: 'In love'. 

Mr King's TripAdvisor page - which claims that he has travelled 245,029 miles and visited 276 cities - lays bare a luxurious jetset lifestyle packed with stays in top hotels and dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants.

His creature comforts are a far cry from the dilapidated caravans and cramped former barracks his firm supplies to the Home Office - where migrants have previously complained of cramped, rodent-infested rooms and mouldy kitchens.

Clearspring's annual takings from the Home Office, funded from the foreign aid budget, rocketed to an astonishing £500million in 2021.

Mr King's personal share of the pre-tax profits then was well over £25million, meaning he got more of Britain's international aid than struggling former colony Ghana, which has a population of £32million.

He has also recently pursued his passion for fast cars, taking part in Porsche Sprint Challenge events in 2023, and winning at least one race - with Ms Lace by his side throughout.

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The pair were also pictured in front of a vintage Aston Martin at a Sotheby's luxury car auction held in Battersea, south west London, in October 20, 2016.

King was catapulted onto the Sunday Times Rich List this year after cashing in on accommodating and transporting migrants arriving in the UK.

He was ranked as the 221st richest person in the UK with an estimated £750m fortune from 'holiday parks, inheritance and housing asylum seekers for the government'.

Companies House records reveal that his umbrella company Clearsprings (Management) Ltd turned over £1.75billion in the 12 months up to the end of January this year.

The company made a profit of £119,337,326 during the year, an increase of more than £45million on the previous 12 months.

The company's turnover is made up largely from Home Office contracts to provide accommodation to asylum seekers in old military barracks, hotels and flats.

Its latest accounts published last week showed it paid Corporation Tax of nearly £29million on its profits.

Companies House records reveal that King has significant control of the company, owning at least 75 per cent of the shares.

The company largest subsidiary is Clearspring Ready Homes Ltd. which houses asylum seekers on behalf of the Government and has a contract with Kent County Council to 'provide accommodation and support to young asylum seekers and other care leavers'.

Clearsprings Ready Homes Ltd paid out dividends to its shareholders of £90million, according to its new accounts, although it is unclear how much King received.

But his TripAdvisor reviews show that he enjoys splashing out his fortune on a millionaire's lifestyle, enjoying trips in recent years across Europe, the Caribbean and as far away as Sri Lanka and Australia.

While he is fulsome in praise for many restaurants and hotels that he visits, he does not hold back from criticising others.

Despite the basic conditions in the asylum seeker accommodation that he provides, he managed to find fault in the five star Sina Brufani spa hotel in Perugua, Italy.

In a review posted in February last year when he awarded the hotel a three out of five rating, he moaned that there were not enough staff and the hotel 'should have been renovated 20 years ago'.

He claimed that he stayed in one of the hotel's two Royal suites, describing one of them as 'musty smelling', and saying that the other had no coffee machine or complementary water.

King sniffingly added: 'All fittings and the bathrooms are from the 1970's, not antique fittings, just old. I doubt I'll stay in a Sina hotel again if this is what they think 5 stars are.'

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In another review of the The Ayrlington hotel in Bath in September 2012, he moaned: 'Too expensive for what it is, room was ok, most of the 'hotel' needs cleaning, painting or general repairs, I always find it telling when the owner reserve the best parking space for herself!!

'Nail clippings on the floor and don't even look under the bed!!!!Breakfast is passable not great.'

King found things more to his liking at the acclaimed Michelin-starred Atmosphere restaurant in the French ski resort of Chamonix in March 2013, giving it a five star Tripadvisor rating for its 'great food, service and atmosphere and view'.

His review said 'The food was perfect along with the best steak I've had in France - ever. Seated with a view of the river, really buzzy place. I doubt you'll be disappointed, enjoy.'

King's company accounts reveal he has Home Office contracts to house asylum seekers, lasting until 2029.

But he has faced criticism over some of the accommodation he provides.

In 2023, 70 people, including children, slept outside in 'protest' after claiming they were put in small rooms without enough beds in two Clearsprings-run hotels in London.

Clearsprings would not comment at the time and instead referred to the Home Office's statement which read: 'Despite the number of people arriving in the UK reaching record levels, we continue to provide accommodation – at a cost of £6m a day – for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, to meet our legal obligation.

'The accommodation offered to asylum seekers by providers, on a no-choice basis, is of a decent standard and meets all legal and contractual requirements.'

King started off his business empire by running a caravan park in Canvey Island, Essex, with his brother.

He branched out after a disco he ran lost its licence and he suggested he could use the building – a former cinema – to house refugees instead.

Since launching his property firm in 1999, King has won a series of lucrative government contracts to provide short-term accommodation, mostly for asylum seekers.

His firm made the news when a council chose to house benefit claimants in its caravans.

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It was also in the firing line when inspectors found it was putting up asylum seekers in 'decrepit' and 'run-down' conditions at a former barracks in Kent and an Army camp in Pembrokeshire.

Inspectors found 'fundamental failures of leadership and planning', and stated that a third of the residents consulted claimed to have mental health problems

King's wealth has put his son and daughter through a £44,000-a-year boarding school, as well as funding globe-trotting holidays and Alpine ski trips.

His daughter is studying to be an artist and her creations include £10 prints bearing the slogan 'Will trade racists for refugees'.

King's father Jack King - a shed salesman from Romford - moved his young family in the early 1960s to Canvey Island.

Entrepreneur and football fanatic Jack bought a failing caravan holiday park from the council and turned it into a successful mobile home business, Kings Park, which he sold for £32million in 2007, the Times reported.

King followed in his father's footsteps and spent many years working for Jack - who also owned a taxi company, a car dealership and nightclubs hosting performers including Shirley Bassey and Tommy Cooper - before launching Clearsprings.

Most of the Kings have moved away from Canvey island. King's mother passed away in the 1970s while his father died in 2016.