“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity”
06:00, 12 May 2026
Johnny Palmer at Leigh Court(Image: Johnny Palmer)
A Bristol businessman who has thousands of people signed up to his dream of buying a mansion on the edge of the city and turning it into a members club says it is a ‘crunch time’ for the project.
Johnny Palmer, who is perhaps most famous in Bristol for installing a 727 jet fuselage on an industrial estate in Brislington, is trying to buy Leigh Court, a 215-year-old Grade II*-listed mansion just over the Somerset side of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The mansion has been used as a backdrop for everything from Bridgerton, Doctor Who and Sanditon, and is currently owned by Business West and is an events venue and headquarters for the organisation. Last year, Business West put a £5.5 million price tag on the mansion, which comes with extensive grounds.
Those marketing the property say it could be anything from a luxury hotel, a nursing home, converted to apartments or be converted back to one grand home.
But Johnny Palmer, whose company already bought the stable block in 2022, has more unusual plans for the building, and says he is now in a position to buy it.
Last year, he launched a project called ‘Picaroon’, which would be a members club to buy the building and create what he describes as a ‘hybrid space combining businesses, creativity, wellness and nature – something he said Bristol is currently missing.
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He said the project is now ‘fully-funded, proceedable and ready to move’. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” he said, after confirming that more than 3,000 people and businesses had signed up to be would-be members of the Picaroon club.
“While our offer has not been accepted yet, the team is chomping at the bit to get to work on this. The multi-phased development program is in place, we have registered the trademark, built the website, completed masterplan designs, formed the team and even built most of the custom software for the operation.
“In truth this is easy for us as so many of our existing projects overlap with Picaroon. There are loads of synergies,” he added.
The Leigh Court estate in Abbots Leigh near Bristol(Image: Johnny Palmer – autonomous investments)
“This is crunch time. Leigh Court is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and it needs the right buyer,” said Mr Palmer.
“We’re not talking about another generic development. This is about creating a space that actually works for how people live and work today — something Bristol doesn’t currently have,” he added.
Last week Mr Palmer began work on installing a second jet fuselage at the Skyline industrial estate in Brislington, which would create a venue alongside the current jet, which is an Airbnb. This week, he is calling on Leigh Court to be sold to his Picaroon project – to keep the asset within Bristol.
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““I am getting tired of seeing the best parts of Bristol either get shut down or sold off to investors who intend to take more from the city than they will put in,” he said. “We need more local ownership bringing money into the city and prosperity for the region.
“While we cannot be certain who else might be putting in competing bids for the estate, we are very concerned it may be people who are not taking a Bristol-first approach or doing things that are not for the benefit of the region,” he added.
The Leigh Court estate in Abbots Leigh near Bristol(Image: Johnny Palmer – autonomous investments)
“Of course, the seller needs to look at what the best offer is, but I don’t believe business should all be about money – it is about using positive commerce to build a better world to live in. This has always been my focus,” he said.
While the mansion itself is being sold off, there are stable blocks and outbuildings that are in different ownership, including Mr Palmer’s company, which runs it as a business hub.
“Leigh Court isn’t a simple asset. There are layers to how it operates, particularly around existing stakeholders on the estate,” he said.
“If those realities aren’t properly understood upfront, there’s a real risk of problems emerging later on. We’ve spent the last few years getting to grips with that — that’s a big part of why we’re confident in delivering this properly,” he added.
The Leigh Court estate in Abbots Leigh near Bristol(Image: Johnny Palmer – autonomous investments)
“We’ve done the work. We’ve built the team, secured the funding and tested the concept in the real world,” he said.
“Now it comes down to whether the opportunity is there to take Leigh Court forward in a way that actually works long term,” he added.