The founder of Big Motoring World has won a drawn-out battle with planners to build a huge showroom at his historic £20million mansion – complete with a car turntable to show off his collection of supercars.
Waddell’s 56-room Grade I-listed pile, Holwood House, near Bromley, south-east London , is steeped in history and boasts a swimming pool complex, two gyms, a cinema, music room and tennis court, all set in 50 acres of parkland. But despite his lavish lifestyle, Waddell, 58, once lived rough and suffered an appalling childhood of abuse and neglect. The businessman, who is deaf and dyslexic, was just four when his mother tried to kill him and grew up in a children’s home in Fairlie, North Ayrshire, after spending months in hospital.
